


The Mer King

by Pastaaddict



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alfred is scared of the ocean, Alternate Universe - The Little Mermaid Fusion, Arthur wants to find his king, Cardverse, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, France is a flirt (of course), M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-09
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-08-21 05:57:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 64,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16570949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pastaaddict/pseuds/Pastaaddict
Summary: The underwater kingdom of Spades is searching for its next king.  The problem!  The next King of Spades is a land-dweller and terrified of the ocean.





	1. The Missing King

**Author's Note:**

> This is my attempt to combine Cardverse with the Little Mermaid (the fairy tale, not the film). I'll try to update each week but I make no promises, things keep cropping up. Hope you like!
> 
> Hetalia does not belongs to me. Sadly.

 

**List of Characters.....**

 

**Queen Arthur of Spades: England**

**Ace Matthew of Spades: Canada**

**Jack Yao of Spades: China**

**Joker Gilbert : Prussia**

**Joker Peter : Sealand**

**Prince Alfred of Altheia: America**

**King Alexander/Prince Allan of Altheia: 2p! America**

**Prince Jason of Altheia: Molossia**

**King Francis of Diamonds : France**

**Queen Lili of Diamonds : Liechtenstein**

**Jack Vash of Diamonds : Switzerland**

**Ace Antonio of Diamonds : Spain**

**King Ludwig of Hearts : Germany**

**Queen Kiku of Hearts : Japan**

**Jack Feliciano Of Hearts : Italy**

**Ace Lovino of Hearts : Romano**

**King Ivan Of Clubs : Russia**

**Queen Elizaveta of Clubs : Hungary**

**Jack Roderich of Clubs : Austria**

**Ace Natalya of Clubs : Belarus**

 

_**Chapter 1 : The Missing King** _

 

The Conclave of the Mers were meeting again to discuss alliances and problems between the four kingdoms of the Cards Sea. Cards was an old Mer word, Car meaning Tribe and Ds meaning four from the time when the kingdoms were just the four Mer tribes that inhabited the area. The kingdoms met every year to settle issues and so forth and it was overseen by the Jokers of Cards who swam in the centre of the huge underwater cavern in which the Conclave took place. The Red Joker was the oldest looking of the two, being an adult where the other looked like a twelve year old fingerling.

 

The Red Joker, also known as Gilbert was a startling figure with white hair, pinkish pale skin and red eyes and his long, powerful tail matched his eyes while his young counterpart, Peter had a black tail, blue-eyes with huge eyebrows and messy blonde hair. At one time, Peter had a blue tail, having been born into the Kirkland Clan of Spades (all Spadians had blue tails) but when he was chosen to be the Black Joker, the colour of his tail changed. Gilbert's tail had always been red, he was from Hearts and, like all mers, had webbed hands and gills on their necks.

 

The cavern around them was divided into four and each area was occupied by the current rulers of each kingdom. The red-tailed Mer royals swam in the area to the right of the Jokers with King Ludwig, Gilbert's younger brother, a muscular blonde merman with baby blue eyes and a tail longer than Gilbert's beside the Queen of Hearts, Queen Kiku, a black haired merman with almond-shaped brown eyes and a red tail, not as long. The last two mermen looked like twins, or would if they both had the same colour eyes and hair. And if the curls that each had, stuck out at the same side of the head but Jack Feliciano's was on the left side while Ace Lovino's was on the right and both had red tails like all Hearts Mers but Feliciano had auburn hair and amber eyes while Lovino's hair was reddish-brown and his eyes had a little less yellow tone. Feliciano was also bright and bubbly while Lovino always seemed to have a scowl on his face, although that did not deter the Diamonds Ace Antonio from seeking him out at every opportunity.

 

The Royals of Diamonds had tails that were yellow and orange mixed. This was because they used to be two smaller tribes in the further past and the two merged to form what was known as Diamonds in the modern day. King Francis, it had to be said, was a beautiful merman with longish blonde hair that waved in the water currents, eyes of clear blue seas and a stubby beard that somehow added to his charm and he swam next to Jack Vash, another blonde merman with green eyes and resembled Queen Lili who was an adolescent and Vash's younger sister. Ace Antonio had chocolate brown hair and forest-green eyes that were only for the Hearts Ace.

 

Next to them were the royals of Clubs, the green-tailed Mers who resided in the cool waters of the Cards Sea. King Ivan was, by far, the largest merman in the Conclave, with platinum-coloured hair and lavender eyes but he had a tendency to unnerve people with his slightly creepy child-like smile but, fortunately, people were drawn to Queen Elizaveta, a cheerful mermaid with long, light-brown hair and eyes of summer grass who was mated to Jack Roderich, a dark-haired merman with dark violet eyes. The last royal was Ivan's sister, Ace Natalya who shared her brother's hair and eyes and was very beautiful but always had a cold look in her eyes except when looking at her brother. The look she had then terrified Ivan.

 

The last royals were, of course, the blue-tailed Spadian royals which were comprised of Jack Yao, a merman that would have been mistaken for a mermaid, if not for the fact that all mers go naked. As such, Yao's true gender was for all to see as he lacked breasts. He was a black-haired merman who's hair fell over his left shoulder in a ponytail with brown eyes who swam beside a blonde merman who's hair almost reached his shoulder with one strand that sprang out into the water in front of his face. Ace Matthew also had light violet eyes and he swam beside the Queen of Spades, Arthur Kirkland.

 

Arthur was Peter's older brother and shared his hair and eyebrows but he had eyes like emeralds and, while all mers had beautiful tails, none matched Arthur's. Almost from the point where his human-like body met his tail, a dorsal fin ran down the back of his shining azure tail to the tip to join the long fan-tail that finished it all off. He attracted many with his tail but many also found his tsundere attitude off-putting, although that did not stop the King of Diamonds, a merman that Arthur stigmatised as a pervert and said so at every opportunity.

 

But it was obvious to all present that something, or rather someone, was missing among the Spadian Royalty and had been missing for some years, despite endless searching.

 

Spades, as of right now, had no King.

 

“I see no progress has been made in locating the next King of Spades,” Gilbert commented, looking over the incomplete group. “It must be a strain, fulfilling the duties of both King and Queen.” Gilbert looked at the Queen's mark over Arthur's heart. All royals had a mark from birth, a symbol of their destiny. All Kings had a ornate K within the symbol of the tribe they ruled, Queens had a Q, Jack's a J and Aces an A. The tribe symbol for Spades was a tear-drop shape stood on a triangle base, Diamonds and Heart, naturally a diamond and a heart while Clubs had three circles bunched together and also stood on a triangle base but Spades was missing the one who bore the Spades with a K.

 

“I can manage, Your eminences,” Queen Arthur replied. “We know that the King is alive but we suspect he may be a land-dweller, just as Matthew was.” It was rare but not unknown for land-dwellers to be chosen as royals of the underwater kingdoms as the titles were not inherited by any children that royals may have, the next royals were born with their marks. The living existence of each royal was indicated by the Stones of Fate that each kingdom possessed a set of and, when the new royal came into existence, the stone of the royal they were to become would glow until they became either King, Queen, Jack or Ace and the King's stone had been glowing for as long as the Ace stone had but it was three years after the stones began glowing that they finally found their Ace.

 

Three year old Matthew had been found, clinging to the body of a drowned land-dweller after a storm, crying his eyes out and calling out 'Dad, Dad!' and the child had had no idea that he was speaking Mer, which resembled the sound made by dolphins, so along with the way the young fingerling was clinging to the dead land-dweller, they surmised that the boy had been human and the dead man had been his father. They managed to pry the young Ace from the body and took it to a human settlement by the sea edge and left his body on the sand so his kind could find him and give him his final ritual, according to the customs of their people.

 

How chosen humans became mers was not pleasant, they had to drown and it saddened the mers that Matthew had suffered this fate as a child. Taken to the edge of death in water would awaken the magic within the mark which would activate and save said human by changing them into a mer. Matthew had had dreams of drowning for quite some time after he was found and he had to be watched as he often tried to return to the upper world, a place he was no longer a part of but explaining that to a child was not an easy task, especially when he kept saying he was looking for 'Al'.

 

It seems that Matthew had a twin brother called Alfred that had been on board the ship that he and his father had been travelling on and they had all ended up in the water together when they were forced to abandon ship and then their lifeboat capsized in the storm-torn sea. The boy's body was never found so it was assumed that the boy drown and that perhaps his body was devoured by sharks.

 

But there was no way for Matthew to return, he was not a land-dweller any more and, Matthew being so young, his memories faded and he was trained to be the next Ace but, if the missing king was a land-dweller, it was a problem that could only be resolved with time. All chosen land-dwellers found their way to the sea sooner or later.

 

“So all you can do is wait?” Francis commented.

 

“I don't believe it will be long now,” Arthur replied. “It's been almost nineteen years since the King Stone began shining. It rarely goes far beyond eighteen without finding the royal it represents so I'm confident that we will find the King of Spades soon.”

 

“Hopefully,” King Ludwig said. “The next time the Conclave meets, we'll have the pleasure of the new King's company.”

 

“I hope so too,” Arthur nodded and they moved on to the next issues. A few more discussions later and the Conclave ended for another year. The Spades gathered together and prepare to leave as, while of all the kingdoms, Spades was closer to the Conclave, they still had a distance to go. They left the Conclave Cavern to collect their belongings and weapons (weapons were not allowed in Conclave, going back to when Conclave first began and relations with the other tribes were not always cordial) and all Arthur wanted to do was go home.

 

“One moment, mon chèr!” came a certain annoying voice. Arthur groaned, he really did not want to have to deal with the Diamonds lecher today.

 

“What do you want, Francis?” he moaned, wanting to get this over with so he could go home as he turned to see the Diamonds King swimming toward him.

 

“Oh, chéri,” Francis cooed. “Why do you talk like you don't like me?”

 

“Perhaps because,” Arthur replied. “When you talk to me, you take on the personality of an octopus and can't keep your hands to yourself.”

 

“Ah, but chéri,” Francis replied, gazing at Arthur's tail. “When I see such beauty, it would be a sacrilege to touch it but I cannot help myself. If only it was yellow and orange, that would complete its perfection.” Arthur snorted.

 

“Matter of opinion, I like this colour just fine,” Arthur replied, looking down at the scales. They were, for the most part, azure but every now and then, there were scales of slightly different hues that prevented his tail from being all one colour and adding a little variety, especially when his scales shed and others would grow in behind in different colours which meant his tail was constantly changing. Then he felt another change. Something was rubbing the part of his tail that would be where the behind was on a human and looked round to see the end of Francis's tail caressing his dorsal fin. Francis just could not stop for a moment.

 

Francis swam back and put his hands over his ears as a piercing _shriek_ ripple through the water and assaulted his ear-drums as Arthur used his voice to make his displeasure clear. A mer's voice was their greatest tool and weapon and how they used their magic. The sound Arthur had used was a softer version of what might be used in battle, what land dwellers would call a warning shot but mer voices could be used for other things as well, usually in the form of singing. For healing, comfort and for lifting the mood, although songs of euphoria were discouraged above the water. It seems that land-dwellers were too susceptible to these songs and more than one ship had crashed on rocks because the land-dwellers on board became too mesmerised by the singing, leading to the myth that _sirens_ would deliberately lure the poor souls to their deaths.

 

Francis shook his head to clear the ringing from his ears that Arthur's sonic assault had left behind and pouted at the Spadian Queen.

 

“Mon Dieu! Was that really necessary, mon chèr?” he complained. Arthur huffed.

 

“When you're groping me?” he replied. “Yes, it is!”

 

“But I didn't use my hands this time.” Arthur turned to leave, deliberately flapping his fan tail across Francis's face as he turned and began to swim toward his fellow Spadian royals. When Francis recovered from the tail slap, he chuckled. The Queen of Spades was fun to rile up and he caressed his cheek where Arthur's wonderful tail had hit him but he bore no grudges. After all, beauty is pain.

 

* * * * *

 

The Spades pod made their way through the water currents as they headed in the direction of Spades, the royals surrounded by Spadian warriors with Matthew leading as per his position. There was little difference between the royals and the mermen protecting them, the only distinction was the mark on their chests and they did not cover themselves in ostentation, in fact the guards had more jewellery than the royals, wearing blue coral armbands on their upper arms to denote their rank, the more they had, the higher their ranks were. The royal positions were positions of responsibility of leadership, not social rank and they did not feel the need to put on a show to elevate themselves above their people in such a manner.

 

Arthur, Yao and Matthew had shown themselves very capable of holding their positions and were held in high esteem by the Mer of Spades but it did not change the fact that they had no king and Arthur looked up toward the water surface, despite the fact that they were too far down to see it and he wondered.

 

Where, in the vastness of the home of the land-dwellers, was his king to be found?

 

* * * * *

 

Prince Alfred was afraid of the ocean.

 

He had been since the age of three but it was not surprising when a ship had sank as he, his twin brother and his father scrambled into a lifeboat with other sailors. A lifeboat during a storm was not the best idea but they had been minutes away from the ship disappearing under the water and the lifeboats were still buoyant, at least until a large wave hit theirs and they were all thrown out into the water. Alfred still had nightmares about that time.

 

_Alfred and Matthew huddled together as their father, Prince Allan, brother of King Alexander of the Kingdom of Athelia, pushed them toward the small boat as the deck tilted beneath their feet, with the wind whipping their hair about and sea water stinging their eyes as they made it to the side._

 

_“I don't wanna, Dad!” Alfred declared as he was handed over to men already in the lifeboat and Allan turned to pick up Matthew. “I don't wanna go in the boat.”_

 

_“You have to, Alfred!” his father ordered as he passed Matthew over. “The ship is sinking, we can't stay!” Then he climbed into the boat and helped in the last of the sailors and the lifeboat pulled away from the stricken ship as it slowly sank beneath the surface but they were not safe yet. The storm still raged on and the small lifeboat was being tossed around by the waves as the sailors pulled on the oars in an desperate attempt to row out of the storm and Prince Allan went to help them as his twin sons huddled down at one end of the boat and the winds threw sea water over everyone. The waves were getting rougher as the boat rocked back and forth and Matthew whimpered in fright._

 

_“I'm scared, Al,” the three year old admitted._

 

_“Me too,” Alfred replied. “But Dad will help us.” As if to mock little Alfred's declaration, a huge wave hit the lifeboat and it overturned. Both boys screamed as they were thrown from the lifeboat along with everyone else._

 

_Alfred and Matthew became separated as they hit the water and Alfred came back to the surface and coughed up water. He saw Matthew's little head bobbing above the water a little way off and saw his father swimming behind him. Allan reached Matthew and scooped him up with one arm and began to swim toward Alfred. They were only a mere couple of feet apart when another wave drove Alfred under the water again and, when he resurfaced, his father and Matthew were nowhere to be seen._

 

_“DAD!” he screamed, after he coughed up more water. “MATTIE!” but he could not see them and then Alfred felt an arm encircle his waist and he was pulled through the water toward the lifeboat that was back on its keel and he was pulled back into it by sailors who had managed to get on and they pulled up the sailor who had grabbed Alfred in the water, hoping to survive the storm._

 

_There were a few more rough moments but, eventually the storm abated and the ship that had accompanied the royal vessel found them in the morning, minus two of the princes and carrying one that was extremely traumatized. Prince Allan's body was found on the shore a few days later but Matthew was never seen again._

 

Alfred shook his head of the vision of what happened when he was three, put on his gold, half-rimmed glasses and looked in the mirror after his bath, looking at his reflection, the blonde hair with the funny cow-lick that stuck up, no matter what. The sky-blue eyes in a face of boyish charm and the gaze of those eyes wandered down to his chest where a mark sat over his heart. An ornate spade with a K in the centre that he had been told had been there since the day he was born. Apparently Matthew had had one too with an A in it but it was not raised like a birthmark, it was more like a tattoo but it was not that either. His uncle, King Alex could not explain it, the marks had just always been a part of the two young princes but Alex felt it meant that his nephews were destined for something. Well, at least Alfred was.

 

Alfred shook his head again and began to dress, taking off the towel around his waist and grabbing his underclothes. He had just finished putting them on when there was a knock on his door and Alfred rolled his eyes, knowing it was his valet.

 

“Enter,” he called and a brown haired man with green eyes came through the door. Toris tutted when he saw that Alfred had begun without him.

 

“Your Highness!” he scolded. “You should really wait for me before dressing.” Alfred rolled his eyes.

 

“Toris, I'm not a child,” he huffed. “I can dress myself. I can certainly put on my own underpants.”

 

“Be that as it may,” Toris replied. “It's my task to see that you dress properly. If you had your way, you'd go around the kingdom dressed like a farm labourer.”

 

“I just want to be comfortable,” Alfred groused as Toris began stuffing him into a high necked shirt. “This thing feels like it's going to strangle me!”

 

“You're a prince of this kingdom,” Toris replied. “And you must look the part.”

 

“Why?” Alfred asked for the who-knew-how-manyth time. “I'm not the heir to the throne, Jason is and, you know something, he's welcome to it.” Toris chuckled.

 

“At least Prince Jason can be reasonably reassured that you have no designs on his crown,” he said. Alfred snorted.

 

“I don't think Jason wants the throne any more than I do,” he commented. “But he's tied to it and me? Who am I but the 'Sea Prince'. Sounds almost romantic unless you know the story behind it.” Toris stayed silent, he knew how much Alfred hated that nick-name. A constant reminder of what he had lost when he was three years old.

 

“I don't want to make this journey, Toris,” he admitted. “I don't want to go to Mertoris.” Toris knew why. Quite apart from the fact that the journey was to meet the princess that his uncle was hoping to arrange to marry Alfred and gain him a valuable ally, which was a problem in itself because Alfred did not like girls, at least not in that way, it also meant that Alfred had to board a ship as it was the only way to reach the Kingdom of Mertoris and Alfred had not been on a ship since that fateful night.

 

“Your Highness …....” Toris began but was interrupted when the door burst open and the Crown Prince Jason bounced into the room. He resembled Alfred somewhat but he had the same dark brown hair with reddish tints that his and Alfred's father had and his eyes were hazel. Generally, he was grumpy around people until he got to know them and Alfred was one of the few people who got that privilege.

 

“Hey, cousin,” he greeted, throwing himself on to Alfred's bed and began lounging on it, looking every inch _not_ the Crowned Prince of Altheia. “Almost ready for the trip?”

 

While Jason was well aware of the accident that had robbed Alfred of his father and brother, he could be a little clueless when it came to Alfred's aversion to the ocean so the fact that Alfred was facing a sea voyage that filled him with apprehension completely passed Jason by.

 

“I just wish I could go by land,” Alfred admitted and Jason realised a little that Alfred might be uncomfortable at the idea.

 

“It'll be fine,” he reassured him. “Ships don't always sink, you know.” Toris rolled his eyes as Alfred went a little pale, hoping that Jason would stop talking because he was really not helping.

 

“It really will be fine, Your Highness,” Toris said, trying to undo the damage. “The _Baltic_ is our finest and safest ship and Eduard Von Bock is our most competent captain.”

 

“Can you guarantee no storms?” Toris just smiled, sadly and put a jacket over the clothes he had been putting on Alfred.

 

“I suppose I've no choice,” Alfred said, resigned to his fate for now but he still had to get on that ship.

 

“Well, Dad wants to see you,” Jason said. “Probably a few last minute points for when you meet Princess Erika.” Jason felt sorry for Alfred, he had heard a few things about Princess Erika, some slightly disturbing things about her clingy, possessive nature and a couple of questions about her mental stability. Marriage to her might have been his fate, had it not been for the fact that he was promised to Madeline, Princess of the Kingdom of Vynlande. They had known each other for most of their lives and they just happened to fall in love. Lucky them!

 

“I better not keep Uncle Alex waiting,” Alfred replied and left, knowing that Toris would arrange for his luggage to be taken to the ship while he conversed with the king.

 

* * * * *

 

King Alexander stood by the window in his room, waiting for his nephew to arrive and hoping Alfred was not too apprehensive about the journey. He knew of Alfred's aversion to ships and the ocean, not that he could blame the boy but this possible alliance with Mertoris could be important and there was simply no other way to get there as Altheia and Mertoris were on two different landmasses. He wanted to reassure the boy that it would be all right and to make sure he knew his duties when he arrived there. He also wanted to warn Alfred that Princess Erika could be a little …...intense.

 

Alex had not quite been the same since the accident, although he was grateful that he had not lost all of his family that night. Allan had been his twin, just as Alfred and Matthew had been and it seemed to run in the family as Jason had been a twin too but his slightly younger brother had died in child-birth, along with their mother.

 

Alex had never married again and felt he did not need to. He had an heir and his brother had two twin sons of his own so the royal line was assured but the family had been struck with a series of tragedies of which his wife and younger son's deaths were the first. The next was the death of his sister-in-law, Princess Amelia in a carriage accident and the last, his brother and one of his nephews lost at sea. Alex found himself as parent and guardian to two boys now and he loved Alfred like a son but being royal came with responsibilities and Alfred needed to step up and face his. There was a knock on the door and Alex called, “Enter!”. The door opened and Alfred stepped in.

 

“You wanted to see me, Uncle?” Alex waved him in.

 

“Yes,” he replied. “Close the door and come here.” Alfred pushed the door shut and went to join his uncle.”

 

“How are you feeling, my boy?” he asked, He could see the signs of apprehension and strain, as much as Alfred tried to hide them.

 

“I'm not looking forward to this journey,” Alfred replied, candidly. “But it must be done, I suppose.” Alex put a comforting hand on Alfred's shoulder.

 

“It will be fine,” he replied. “That's why you going on our best ship with the best captain. After me, you're second in line to the throne and I would not risk your safety any more than I would risk Jason's.”

 

“I know, Uncle,” Alfred replied. “And I'm grateful.”

 

“I know you are,” Alex replied. “Now, as to your trip. You know this is to assess an alliance between Altheia and Mertoris by way of a marriage between you and Princess Erika.” Alfred nodded.

 

“Yes, sir,” he replied. “But will that work? My preferences …....”

 

“I'm aware,” Alex said. While Alfred had not had any romantic entanglements, Alex had seen his nephew's eyes wander more toward men than women. It was not frowned on but, given that royals could not always follow their hearts, it was complicating. “But this is a political alliance and neither of you needs to produce an heir for either kingdom. That being said …....” Alex broke off, not sure how to put this next part.

 

“That being said...?” Alfred asked. Alex cleared his throat.

 

“I've heard one or two things about Princess Erika,” he said, honestly. “I hear she can be.....quite eccentric but it's probably just rumour any way, you know the gossip in royal courts.”

 

“Eccentric how,” Alfred asked, He did not mind personality quirks, they made people interesting but the fact that his uncle felt the need to bring it up …..

 

“I'm not sure,” Alex replied, honestly. “Something about her latching on to things and people quickly and easily upset if she has to let them go but I'm sure it's all exaggeration.” But the thought ran through Alfred's mind that, if that was the case, why mention it? Not that he could do anything about it, to call off the visit now would be a grave insult.

 

“Probably,” was all he replied and hoped for the best. Alex came over and put his hands on Alfred's shoulders.

 

“You have the eyes and the hair of your mother,” he commented. “But you look so much like Allan and I often wonder what Mattie would have looked like now. You were almost identical as children.” Alfred smiled, sadly.

 

“We'll never know now,” he replied. “I better go. Everything's being taken to the ship.” Alex heard the suppressed shudder in the word _ship!_

 

“Everything will be all right,” Alex reassured him. “You'll see.” Alfred just nodded and then left.

 

* * * * *

 

Two sailors hoisted a travelling case from the back of the carriage and carried it up the gang plank to take it to the cabin, allocated to Prince Alfred as the Prince himself climbed out of the carriage, followed by Toris and he looked at the ship in apprehension. Soon he would have to step foot on that vessel and go out to sea and he could already see memories of storms and sinking and the last sight of his father and Matthew before the sea swept them away forever and Toris placed a comforting hand on Alfred's shoulder.

 

“Don't worry, Your Highness,” he said. “It's a beautiful day and not a cloud in the sky. No sign of a storm and the _Baltic_ is a sturdy ship. There's nothing to worry about.” Everyone kept telling him that but it did not stop him from feeling like he was stepping to his doom but he had to board the ship and he moved to the gangplank. As he stepped on, he expected it to collapse, pitching him into the water between the dock and the ship but it stayed stable and Alfred and Toris set foot on to the deck of the ship.

 

“Welcome aboard, Your Highness,” Alfred was greeted by a man in the uniform of the Altheian Royal Navy with the insignia of Captain. He had short, blonde hair, green eyes and wore glasses like Alfred and he gave the Prince a salute. Behind him, was a young blonde boy with eyes that were somewhere between dark blue and violet and he was dressed like a cabin boy. “It's an honour to have you on board my ship.”

 

“Thank you, Captain Von Bock,” Alfred replied, politely. “It's a pleasure to be on board.” He had to choke that one out and Eduard Von Bock was not fooled but he did not take it seriously as he expected such a reaction. Everybody knew that the Sea Prince did not like ships. Or the ocean.

 

“This is my cabin boy, Raivis,” Eduard introduced the young boy behind him. “He'll be at your disposal for the duration of the voyage." Alfred turned to the young boy.

 

“Hello, Raivis,” he greeted. “I'm sure we'll get along just fine.” Raivis smiled nervously.

 

“I...I hope so, Y....Your Highness,” he stammered and Alfred smiled too, to make Raivis feel more comfortable.

 

“I'll show you to your cabin, Your Highness,” Eduard said and indicated the direction to go and the royal party followed him into the ship.

 

The cabin given to Alfred and Toris was well-appointed and Alfred suspected that it was the Captain's cabin and Eduard had given it up for Alfred's use. There was a large bed, well as large as you could get on a ship with a smaller bed which Alfred thought might have been Raivis's bed and a desk in front of windows that looked out over the sea at the rear of the ship and Alfred and Toris's luggage was piled in the corner of the cabin, ready for unpacking.

 

“I'll leave you to settle in, Your Highness,” Eduard said. “I must oversee the ship for casting off.” And with a bow, he left them with Raivis whom Toris took in hand.

 

“Come, young Raivis,” he said. “I'll teach you the finer points of serving royalty.”

 

* * * * *

 

An hour later, the _Baltic_ sailed with the tide on a calm sea under a blue sky and a summer sun and soon Altheia disappeared over the horizon, leaving Alfred feeling more alone on an ocean that filled him with dread and bad memories. He hoped for fair weather and calm seas as the ship carried him toward an unknown future.

 

* * * * *

 

The sun was bright enough for the light to reach down to the depths of the kingdom of Spades and the inhabitants looked up as the shadow of the ship passed over their heads and Arthur looked up too, knowing that land-dwellers were traversing the ocean, not knowing that his future was passing right over his head.

 

 


	2. Stormy Weather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred, ships and storms don't mix.....

 

_**I forgot these characters last week so here they are now** _

 

**Toris Laurinaitis of Altheia : Lithuania**

 

**Captain Eduard Von Bock : Estonia**

 

**Raivis Galante : Latvia**

 

_**Additional Characters** _

 

**Princess Erica of Mertoris : 2p! Liechtenstein**

 

**King Voss of Mertoris : 2p! Switzerland**

 

_**Chapter 2 : Stormy Weather** _

 

 

After a month in the company of the Mertorian Royal family, Alfred was back on the ship, heading home. It had been a strange visit, nothing he could really put his finger on as wrong but there was something. Princess Erika was beautiful enough but she was a little odd, from what Alfred could tell whenever he managed to spend any time with her. Her brother, King Voss seemed to not want to leave Erika alone with Alfred and Alfred put it down to being a little overprotective but when he did managed to spend time with Erika, she was ….... clingy. She would put her hand on his arm and she had quite a grip, squeezing his arm as if she was convinced someone would try to take him from her, it was almost possessive.

 

They were perhaps a week away from land-fall back in Altheia and Alfred could not wait to get home, even though the journey home had been less worrying than the journey out as, apart from the odd rough weather, there had been no storms so Alfred was able to take this journey with less fear but he would be glad when it was over as he stood at the railing, looking in the direction that the ship was heading in. Toris joined him, enjoying the breeze blowing off the ocean as he stood beside his prince.

 

“What did you think of the Mertorian royals?” Alfred suddenly asked. Toris hummed.

 

“Well, they were friendly,” he said, diplomatically. Even he, who had not seen as much of the Royal Family as Alfred, had found how they acted rather eccentric. “Princess Erika seemed attentive to you.”

 

“Tell me about it,” Alfred replied, rubbing his arm. He swore that if he bared his arm, he would find fingerprint bruises on it. “She was very clingy, wasn't she?”

 

“She seemed to like you,” Toris commented and, to Alfred, maybe that was the problem. He did not want Princess Erika developing any feelings that he could not return, beyond friendship. “Do you think an arrangement between the two of you can be made, Your Highness?” Alfred rubbed his face before answering.

 

“I don't know,” he replied. “She might want more from me than I can give. If she does, it could make the both of us miserable but if she accepts that I can't feel anything more than friendship then ... maybe.”

 

“Perhaps you could explain to her,” Toris suggested. Being the prince's valet, he missed nothing, certainly not Alfred's preferences. “Then you could go into a marriage with her under no illusions.”

 

“Perhaps,” Alfred replied in a non-committal tone. Any way, all he could do was tell his uncle how the visit went and then it was up to him to decide. Alfred could do nothing but hope for the best.

 

* * * * *

 

_A few days later ……_

 

The existing Royals of Spades had had a productive visit to the Kingdom of Hearts for enhancing the diplomatic ties with one of their greatest allies. Arthur found the Hearts Royals very easy to get along with and he particularly got along with Queen Kiku and everything went well. The Spadian pod were travelling back when they all sensed it, the approaching storm as the vibrations rolled through the water from the distance and they were still some way from home.

 

“We need to find shelter,” Matthew stated, looking around for anything likely. Like the _Sirens_ deliberately causing shipwrecks, Mers controlling storms was also a myth. Mers had to ride out storms, just like land-dwellers but it was the water currents that affected the Mers, rolling around like high winds under the water but they could be just as dangerous.

 

“I believe there's a cave in those rocks over there, Your Majesties,” one of the soldiers said, pointing to a rocky formation in the distance. “I think it's big enough for all of us.”

 

“Then I think we should stay there for the duration of the storm,” Arthur replied. “We won't make it back to any of our settlements before it hits.” Yao turned to the soldier.

 

“Lead the way, aru,” he said and the soldier swam toward the rocks with the rest of the pod following.

 

* * * * *

 

When the dark clouds appeared on the horizon and the sea began to rise and fall a little more than usual, Toris convinced Alfred to go below deck when he heard talk of a storm before it hit but, as the storm gained in strength, he could not disguise the fact for long, as the pitch and roll got worse. Alfred was pale but held it together as the ship seemed to stay in one piece.

 

* * * * *

 

Eduard held on to the wheel and strained to keep it turned in the direction he wanted as waves of seawater flew over the railings and soaked everyone on deck while sailors ran to secure everything and battened everything down. If everything held, they would get through the storm.

 

Then a rope holding the mainsail gave way and the high wind caught the loose canvas, putting strain on the other ropes and they gave way one by one, the sail falling loose and flapping in the wind and the main mast began to creak under the strain. Then there was the sound that was hard to hear over the storm, a loud crack and everyone watched in horror as, almost in slow motion, the main mast tilted and fell like a tree, causing the ship to tilt off-balance as the mast hung over the side and into the water. It held for a moment and then the last remaining wood fibres gave way and the mast slid into the water and the ship righted itself. Eduard swore as crewmen began to cut the ropes attaching the wrecked mast to the vessel. The ship would be difficult to control once the storm abated but it was not impossible, it would just take them longer to get home.

 

Then the raging sea took the floating mast and slammed it back into the side of the ship like a battering ram. The boards on the side of the ship gave way, seawater began to flow in and men began running from the incoming flood, one running for the deck to report to the captain. There was no way to plug the hole or stop the water so the captain gave the only order he could.

 

“ABANDON SHIP!”

 

* * * * *

 

Arthur swam restlessly near the mouth of the cave as he felt the movement of the sea currents being pushed around by the movement of the sea above them as it was ravaged by the storm. He did not know why but something told him he needed to be out there, as insane as it sounded because a mer would be at risk, almost as much as any ship or land-dweller, even under the ocean but something was telling him that _he should get out there!_

 

“Are you all right, Arthur?” Matthew's voice came from behind him and Arthur turned to see his Ace looking at him with concern.

 

“I'm fine,” he replied and looked out of the cave again. “I just feel that …...” He trailed off.

 

“Feel what?” Arthur shook his head.

 

“I don't know,” he said, honestly. “I feel that I shouldn't be here, that I need to be somewhere out there.”

 

“Are you crazy?” Matthew replied. “That's far too risky! The currents are probably more than you can handle.”

 

“I didn't say I would,” Arthur replied. “I'm just saying that's how I feel.” Matthew was not reassured, Arthur had been known to act on his feelings before and the waving of the growing seaweed and dislodged sand from the seabed drifting in the water was hardly reassuring but Arthur was unlikely to listen to Matthew if he took it into his head to follow his instinct so he went to get Yao to help him make sure the Queen of Spades stayed put. The feeling of needing to leave got stronger, like if Arthur did not act now, they would regret it and regret it badly.

 

By the time Matthew returned with Yao, Arthur was gone.

 

* * * * *

 

Alfred and Toris had been told that they needed to leave the ship now and were making their way to the top deck, Alfred breathing deeply on Toris's instructions as the prince was on the verge of a panic attack and they climbed out on to the tilting deck and grabbed ropes to pull themselves up to the railing so they could climb over and down the side of the ship to the lifeboats. Both of them flung a leg over the side and Toris slipped a little down the side, catching another rope and getting rope burns but managed to stop himself but his hands were going to hurt for a while. Alfred moved to follow him when he thought he heard something. He listened hard against the wind and then heard a desperate cry.

 

“HELP!”

 

Alfred looked back over the railing and looked around. At first, with the seawater stinging his eyes, he did not see anything but then he saw Eduard's cabin boy, Raivis clinging desperately to one of the hatches and in danger of falling at any time.

 

“YOUR HIGHNESS!” Toris shouted back at him. “WE MUST LEAVE NOW! COME ON!” Alfred looked at Toris and then back at the frightened and crying cabin boy who's fingers were threatening to slip at any moment and a three year old face swam before his eyes, a face like his that disappeared in the water.

 

No one would disappear again if Alfred had anything to do with it.

 

He swung his leg back onto the ship and held on to the rope again and began to lower himself down, ignoring Toris's cry of 'YOUR HIGHNESS!' as he descended until he was level to Raivis and began to swing toward him. When he swung close enough, he grabbed the edge of the hatch and moved toward the cabin boy.

 

“GET ON MY BACK!” he shouted over the wind and Raivis grabbed Alfred's shoulder and got his arms around Alfred's neck. Alfred let go of the hatch and he swung back out and began climbing back to the railing and, when he got there, instructed Raivis to climb over the railing and the boy began to climb down the rope on the other side. Alfred began to climb over after him but then the ship lurched over further and Alfred lost his balance. He tried to grab the rope to break his fall but missed and he fell into the water on the other side of the ship from the lifeboat. The last thing he thought as his head impacted against debris in the water, robbing him of consciousness, was he was going to suffer the same fate as his father and brother.

 

_Father, Mattie, I'm coming!_

 

* * * * *

 

Arthur struggled through the currents, making his way to the surface where his instincts were guiding him and, as he got closer, he saw a land-dweller vessel on the surface but there was something wrong. It was almost resting on its side and Arthur knew that it would not be long before it would be under the water. There was a smaller vessel in the water that seemed to still be floating and Arthur knew the land-dwellers on board would be climbing into it but he could see nothing that he could help with until something broke the surface of the water and sank beneath the waves.

 

Arthur could see it was a land-dweller but the storm clouds blocked a lot of light and made it difficult to see any details but one thing Arthur could see was that the land-dweller was not moving. Arthur knew that land-dwellers could not survive under the water so if he did not do something, the land-dweller would die.

 

Arthur fought the rough sea currents to reach the land dweller and he grabbed the prone figure and swan to the surface, their heads breaking the water. Arthur kept the land-dweller's head out of water and he swam away from the ship before it sank and sucked them back under but they really needed to get out of the storm and Arthur knew of a land-dweller settlement not far and swam in that direction. He just hoped he could get there before he tired too much.

 

* * * * *

 

By the time Arthur made it to shore, the storm had blown itself out, letting the sun shine again and Arthur managed to drag the land-dweller up on to the sand where he finally got a good look at him. A male with blonde, sun-kissed hair and a face that reminded Arthur of Matthew. He had a toned body and, Arthur guessed, well-formed lower appendages, not having much experience with such things. He had land-dweller coverings over his body, a sandy coloured covering on his legs and a white one over his torso but Arthur could see something black on the land-dweller's chest, just peeking out from under and showing through the wet covering, sticking to his body and Arthur became intrigued. He reached out to take the edge of the covering and lifted it up to see what the mark was. When he saw the spade with the K in the centre, he dropped the covering in shock.

 

He stared back into the face of the land-dweller, trying to process what he had just discovered. _This was the next King of Spades! He had found his King!_ Arthur put his hand on the land-dweller's chest, looking at the handsome face of the next king but then he frowned. He could feel the land-dweller's heart faltering under his hand, at least as far as he knew the heart was faltering but the breathing was also beginning to struggle and Arthur knew that the next king was dying.

 

Arthur did not have much time, not just because the land-dweller's time was short but so was his. Arthur could not be out of the water for too long, it was not very comfortable for him as the sun dehydrated his scales and caused them to itch and flake. The wisest decision would be to drag the land-dweller back to the water but Arthur did not even have that time, the land-dweller was moments from death so Arthur opened his mouth and began to sing. A beautiful arrangement of musical notes flowed from Arthur as he sang a song of healing but, as he sang, he debated whether or not he should take the land-dweller back into the sea where he would transform before he died from drowning but he remembered what it was like for Matthew. He had been seven when Matthew was found and had befriended the newly transformed mer but he knew adjustment had been hard for the new Ace and Arthur did not want that for the king.

 

As he continued to heal the land-dweller, he thought about his options. He knew what the new king looked like now but, if Arthur left the land-dweller, he might not find him again so he decided that he would heal the next king and then explain everything to him, to convince him to return with him to Spades, the kingdom the land-dweller was destined to rule so he continued to sing and heal.

 

* * * * *

 

Alfred ached. His head ached, his arms and legs ached, his back ached, everything _ached_ and he could feel something gritty underneath his fingertips, clothes wet and sticking to his body and he could feel water in his ears but as it drained away he began to hear something ….... he could not describe it! Wonderful? Miraculous? Heavenly? No words seemed adequate for the melody that flowed into his ears and wove its way into the core of his being. It took a moment but he was finally able to lift his heavy eyelids but what he saw was blurry. He knew someone was above him looking down and they had blonde hair but he could not make out any other features and then he realised that he did not have his glasses and he squinted to make out other details as whoever it was continued to sing. The most he could figure out was that the person was maybe male as it sounded like a male voice, although he could be wrong but he did not think so.

 

Then the sound of children laughing was heard and the singing stopped. The figure seemed to look away from him, back again and then it moved away, vanishing from his line of blurry sight and he raised a weak hand in protest.

 

“Please don't go!” he begged, hoarsely but, whoever it was, they were gone.

 

* * * * *

 

As Arthur sang, the land-dweller's breathing eased and the heartbeat got stronger as Arthur looked into his future king's face to see the eyelids slide slowly open and he could see the land-dweller's eyes. Blue eyes, the colour of the sky above them. Spadian eyes.

 

The eyes squinted as if having trouble seeing him as Arthur sang him to full recovery and, once he was recovered, Arthur would explain to the land-dweller his destiny and take him back to the sea with him to transform into the new King of Spades and the royal suit would be complete.

 

Then he heard sounds, strange sounds of land-dwellers that were coming closer and Arthur stopped singing to look in the direction that the sound was coming from. What should he do? He did not want to lose the future king now that he had found him but he could not be seen by other land-dwellers, it would not end well and he had no time to take the king with him. He could hear them getting closer now and, with a frustrated last look into the land-dweller's blue eyes, he fled, using his arms and the muscles in his tail to manoeuvre himself back to the water and swam to a rock, jutting out of the sea to hide behind and watched as some land-dweller fingerlings came running into sight but they stopped when they saw the future King of Spades prone on the sand. One fingerling (Arthur thought it was a boy) approached the adult land-dweller and knelt beside him and Arthur thought he was seeing if the king was all right, although from this distance, Arthur could not hear what was being said. The boy fingerling called out to one of the others and one ran off while all the others gathered round the king and they seemed to be trying to help him to his feet although he was too weak to get up. After a while, the other fingerling returned with adults, dressed in identical coverings, like how the Spadian royal guards wore similar armbands to show their status, who helped the king up and assisted him in walking up the beach and away from Arthur.

 

Arthur watched helplessly as his king was taken further and further away from him and he ground his teeth in frustration at his inability to do anything about it as the land-dwellers disappeared from sight, his king with them and he cursed himself for letting him slip through his fingers, wondering how he was going to get his king back.

 

“Oh, thank the Sea Fates!” he heard Matthew say and Arthur turned to see the Spadian Ace's head bobbing above the water behind him. “We've been searching for you everywhere, Arthur. Why did you go out into the storm like that? You could have been killed!”

 

“I'm sorry,” Arthur apologised. “But I couldn't ignore the feeling that I needed to be out here, that it was important.”

 

“And was it?”

 

“More than you could possibly know.”

 

* * * * *

 

King Alexander sat partaking of refreshment in his study while going over some state affairs and thinking about the possible alliance between Altheia and Mertoris. The _Baltic_ was due back at any time and Alex was worried about the storm that had struck, worried about Alfred's reaction to it. He also wondered how Alfred's trip had gone, if he and Princess Erika had gotten along and what it could mean for both kingdoms.

 

His musings were interrupted when the door opened and Prince Jason walked in, wearing his riding clothes and Alex was not sure if he was just going or just returning as he sat down by his father. His messy hair was not an indicator as it was messy on a regular basis.

 

“Hey Dad,” he greeted. “Still no sign of the _Baltic?_ I hope everything went okay, that was a pretty bad storm and I know how much Alfred hates storms.”

 

“Hmm,” Alex agreed. “Still, the _Baltic_ 's a good ship, I'm sure she rode it out safely if she was caught in it.” Jason poured himself some wine.

 

“Here's hoping,” he replied. “Although if she was, I doubt you'll get Alfred on another ship. He was antsy about it this time.” Alex had to agree with his son about that. His nephew really did not like ships or the ocean and Alex had hoped that this trip would help Alfred get over that. Jason took a sip of his wine.

 

“Are you really going to make Alfred marry Princess Erika?” he asked. “I know you would like an alliance with Mertoris but it's not vital and you know Alfred's ….... you know.....” Alfred's sexuality had to be the least best kept secret in the kingdom, everyone knew and Alex sighed.

 

“An alliance with Mertoris would bring benefits,” he admitted. “And it would be just a political marriage.”

 

“Yes,” Jason agreed. “But would Princess Erika see it that way?” Alex mused on that. He had heard that she had some strange ideas and she might not take the fact that she might never quite do it for Alfred well but, before he could answer that, there was a knock on the door.

 

“Enter!” Alex called out and a soldier entered the room and bowed.

 

“Forgive the intrusion, Your Majesty,” he said and bowed to Jason. “Your Highness but Prince Alfred has just been found swept up on the beach. He's being taken to his chambers, right now.” Alex and Jason got to their feet.

 

“Found on the beach!” Alex exclaimed. “What about the _Baltic_?”

 

“It seems she floundered in the storm, Your Majesty,” the soldier replied. “Prince Alfred has no idea what happened to everyone else. He remembers nothing after falling into the water to the moment he woke up on the beach.”

 

“You said he's been taken to his room?” Jason asked and when the soldier nodded, both Alex and Jason left the room and made their way to Alfred's chambers. When they arrived at his door, Alfred had been put into bed and the maid was tucking in the covers.

 

“Alfred!” Alex exclaimed as he and Jason came toward the bed as the maid curtsied and left. “What happened?” Alfred squinted at his uncle and cousin, he really needed his glasses.

 

“A storm hit,” he replied. “Next thing I knew, the Captain was calling abandon ship and she was tilting in the water. I saved the cabin boy but then the ship jerked and I lost my balance and fell and I must have hit my head on something.”

 

“So you don't know how you came to be on the beach?” Jason asked. Alfred rubbed his eyes.

 

“I think I do,” he replied. “I think someone saved me. When I woke up, there was someone leaning over me and they were …...” Alfred did not know if he should say.

 

“They were what?” Alex asked. Alfred sighed and braced himself.

 

“They were singing,” he replied. Alex and Jason looked at each other.

 

“Look, Al,” Jason said. “Are you sure that wasn't a dream? I mean ….. singing?”

 

“I couldn't dream up anything that sounds that beautiful,” Alfred replied. “I didn't imagine it, Jase! Someone pulled me out of the sea but I couldn't see them properly, I'd lost my glasses.”

 

“Why didn't they stay?” Alex asked. “If this person did save you, they saved a prince of the realm so why didn't they wait? And what were they doing out at sea in a storm?” Alfred shook his head.

 

“I don't know,” he admitted. “But I know someone saved me and I'm going to find them. And Uncle Alex?”

 

“Yes, Alfred?”

 

“I'm never setting foot on another ship again!”

 

* * * * *

 

“How could you risk yourself like that?” Yao rarely yelled at his queen but this was an exception. “What was so important that you would swim out in the middle of a storm, aru?” The reply from Arthur was so quiet that Yao and Matthew almost missed it.

 

“I found the King of Spades.”

 

“What would the kingdom do without …....” Yao continued to rage until what Arthur had said sank in. “What, aru?”

 

“I said I found the King of Spades,” Arthur replied. “He's a land-dweller who was on a sinking land-dweller vessel. He fell in the water and I took him back to the surface and took him to the nearest land-dweller settlement.”

 

“You stopped him from drowning?” Matthew asked. Arthur nodded.

 

“I didn't know he was the king until we reached the settlement,” Arthur explained. “I healed him but then other land-dwellers came so I had to leave, I had no choice.”

 

“Then he's lost to us for now,” Yao commented, sadly. “Until the Sea Fates intervene and bring him back to us, aru.” Arthur was not going to accept that.

 

“We have to try and find him again!” he declared. “We've never been so close before, there has to be a way to find him again.”

 

“Arthur, he's on land,” Matthew pointed out. “A place we can't go so there's no way to get to him.”

 

“There has to be a way,” Arthur said with determination. “And I will find it.”

 

* * * * *

 

The lifeboat survived the storm and were found by a fishing boat the next day who brought them into harbour and they were taken to the castle where Toris dreaded telling King Alexander that they had lost Prince Alfred in the storm. He was grieving the loss himself, not expecting to lose his charge and friend to the sea like his father and brother were lost. They were taken to the throne room, to the king who was waiting to find out what happened to the _Baltic_ and Eduard and Toris bowed to King Alex and waited for him to speak.

 

“Tell me what happened, gentlemen,” the King said at last. Eduard cleared his throat.

 

“Our main mast gave way in the storm, Your Majesty,” he replied. “Then the movement of the ocean rammed it back into our side and pierced the hull. I had no choice but to abandon ship, sire, we were sinking.” Alex nodded, understandingly.

 

“Injuries?” he asked. “Casualties?”

 

“Light injuries, Your Majesty,” Eduard replied. “The most severe a broken leg and a concussion but we had one casualty.” His face fell as he said this.

 

“Your Majesty,” Toris said, sorrowfully. “Prince Alfred went back to save someone, a cabin boy. The boy was saved but we lost Prince Alfred in the sea. I swear we tried to find him but he was gone.” Alex could see the grief in the valet's eyes and was happy he had good news for him.

 

“Rest easy, gentlemen,” he replied. “Prince Alfred was found alive on the beach. He's currently resting in his chambers.” Both men looked happy but perplexed.

 

“This is good news, Your Majesty,” Eduard replied. “But how did he get here so fast? And alone in the water?”

 

“Alfred said someone saved him,” Alex replied. “He insists that someone was with him when he woke on the beach but he had lost his glasses so he couldn't see them very well. He could have been hallucinating from being in the water for so long but I wonder. Could he have drifted back to shore on his own or could someone have helped him?”

 

“I suppose we'll never know, Your Majesty,” Toris said. “But he's alive and that's all that matters. May I take my leave to go and see him, sire?” Alex gave his consent and Toris bowed and left while Alex turned back to Eduard and sighed.

 

“The _Baltic_ was a good ship,” he commented. Eduard nodded, apologetically,

 

“I'm sorry, Your Majesty,” he replied. “Had the storm not rammed us with our own mast, we would have made it back to port and she could have been repaired but once her hull was breached, she was lost. I would have done everything I could to save her.” Alex nodded.

 

“Ships sink,” he replied. “A fact of life and what you've told me tallies with Alfred's report of what happened. You'll be assigned a new ship in due course but the big mystery is how Alfred managed to survive the storm and make it to land! He has no recollection between hitting the water and waking up on the beach so did someone save him and, if they did, why didn't they stay around?”

 

“And why would someone be out in the storm in the first place?” Eduard mused. “No one in their right mind would be out in it, it was a day before the fishing boat found us.”

 

“Mysterious indeed,” King Alex muttered.

 

* * * * *

 

Toris practically ran to Alfred's chambers, marvelling at the miracle that the Prince had survived the storm and somehow made it home as he had felt sure he was never going to see his friend and employer again. He knocked on the door and opened it to find Alfred struggling into his clothes with a footman protesting and trying to get him back into bed.

 

“I'm telling you, I'm fine!” Alfred insisted, trying to put on a shirt that the footman was trying to take off him. “I don't need to rest, I wanna to go out.”

 

“Your Highness,” the footman protested. “You nearly drowned yesterday and the royal physician said you should rest for a few days.”

 

“That quack doesn't know anything,” Alfred snorted. “Now give me my shirt!” And he pulled at the material that could only take so much and the stitching gave way.

 

“Damn!” Alfred swore and went to get another shirt and Toris stepped into the room.

 

“Your Highness should know better than to treat clothes that way,” Toris commented and Alfred turned toward the sound of his voice.

 

“Toris!” Alfred shouted, happily and he grabbed his valet, spinning him around. “I thought you were dead.”

 

“I was about to say the same, Your Highness,” Toris replied. “How did you make it back to shore alive?”

 

“That's why I wanna go out,” Alfred replied. “Someone saved me and I wanna find them. I'll start with the beach.”

 

“Your Highness,” Toris insisted. “If someone did save you, they're long gone now. I doubt they'll still be down by the ocean and how will you even know them?”

 

“I just have to hear them sing,” Alfred replied. “When I woke up, they were singing and no one else can sing the way they can, Toris, it was beautiful!”

 

“Your Highness,” Toris said, trying to reason with Alfred. “Are you sure that wasn't a dream? People don't sing when they are rescuing others. We can look for your mysterious rescuer in a few days and you can rest in the meantime. Please, Your Highness!” Alfred huffed out a breath.

 

“Okay,” he agreed. “But it wasn't a dream, Toris. I was rescued and I'm gonna find them.”

 

* * * * *

 

The Spadian royal pod reached their home in the Blue Coral Palace in the city of Klondike and settled to discuss what Arthur knew about the new King of Spades which, admittedly was not much apart from appearance. Blonde, blue eyes, well-tone physique which had Arthur blushing and put a twinkle in Matthew's and Yao's eyes as they realised that the Queen was already smitten but they had no idea how to find the missing member of their pod.

 

“We can try going back to where I left him,” Arthur suggested. “He might not be there but it's a place to start.”

 

“He most likely _won't_ be there,” Yao replied. “And you risk being seen by land-dwellers. You would have to go on land and there's no way to do that and, even if you could, it's dangerous. Too dangerous to risk our Queen, aru.”

 

“So we just sit and wait?” Arthur asked, grumpily. “That will take too long. We need our king!”

 

“Yao's right,” Matthew said, agreeing with the Spadian Jack. “I know I was young when I came down here but I do remember that it was not always safe for land-dwellers, let alone those unfamiliar with the land up there.”

 

“It's an academic point anyway,” Yao replied. “There's no way to go in-land so waiting is the only course open to us, aru.” Arthur sighed.

 

“It's just.....” he muttered. “Finally, we find our king and he slips through our fingers!”

 

“I know,” Matthew commiserated. “But, at least we know for sure he's out there now. The Sea Fates will bring him to us, have faith in that!” Arthur sighed again.

 

“I'm going to rest,” he replied. “It's been a long, eventful journey.” He left to go to his own room in despondency, moving through the dark hallways, created by the coral. There was no light here but Mers have excellent vision even in the dark and Arthur would know the way with his eyes closed. He swam through a curtain of seaweed into his chambers, laid down on his bed, a flat rock, hollowed out in the centre and filled with sand and began to brood. He had been so close, so close to bringing his king to the kingdom and he began dwelling on the new king himself. Arthur had to admit that he had been attracted almost from the moment he got a good look at him. He would be a golden king with the eyes the colour of the kingdom he would reign over and Arthur would be by his side as Queen but first they had to find him again. Arthur went over his options.

 

Wait? ….. but that idea grated on Arthur's nerves now that he had found his future king.

 

Go look for him? …... an on-land search was a difficult thing for a mer, to say nothing of how land-dwellers might react to him if they saw him. What else? …..

 

The Jokers!

 

They might have a solution but, if they did, Arthur could not tell Yao or Matthew, they would try to stop him but first, he had to find out if they _had_ a solution so Arthur left his chambers and made his way through the hallways, nodded to the mers that bowed to him as he passed until he came to a seldom used passageway and disappeared down it.

 

After swimming for a minute or two, Arthur reached the rock that the blue coral had grown on and swam upward to where he could see a tunnel that went through the rock and he followed it. It branched off several times but Arthur had found and explored these tunnels when he was a young fry so he knew them like the back of his hand, including the one that led outside and a few minutes later, he swam through the dense seaweed that covered the exit, into open water and swam in the direction of Conclave.

 

* * * * *

 

It took the Spadian royal a while to reach Conclave and call for the Jokers and then he had to wait for the Jokers to appear but, fortunately, he was not kept waiting as Gilbert and Peter swam in an hour after he stepped into the summoning circle in the centre of the cavern and sent the calling song.

 

“What's happening, oh great Queen?!” Gilbert called out as he and Peter swam toward Arthur. “What awesome business have you dragged us here for?”

 

“Joker Gilbert,” Arthur replied. “I found the next King of Spades.”

 

“Awesome!” Gilbert exclaimed. “Where are they?”

 

“That's the problem,” Arthur replied. “He's definitely a land-dweller.”

 

“That sucks,” Peter replied.

 

“We need a way to find him again,” Arthur said. “We need to bring the King to Spades.”

 

“Ja, I get that,” Gilbert muttered. “Well, I can only think of one way. Someone has to become a land-dweller so they can look for him.” Arthur stared at him.

 

“Is that even possible?” he asked.

 

“Yes,” Peter replied. “We can do it.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Ja,” Gilbert confirmed. “It's ancient Joker magic but it can be done.” Arthur had been hoping for some idea but becoming a land-dweller was not what he had expected. Did he dare do it?

 

“Does it hurt?” he asked but he would put up with some pain if he could find his golden king again.

 

“Nein,” Gilbert replied. “It will feel weird but it won't hurt.....You're actually considering it!”

 

“We have to find him again,” Arthur said. “And the only way to do that is to go on land. I don't think there's much of a choice.”

 

“Aren't you going to discuss this with the rest of the royal pod?” Peter asked.

 

“No,” Arthur replied. “They'll try to stop me and I'm the only one who knows what the King of Spades looks like. I think it best we do this before they realise I'm gone.”

 

“You can't go alone,” Gilbert said.

 

“I have no choice,” Arthur was adamant. “If the rest of the pod know about this, I won't be able to go at all, they won't allow it but they can be told after I go above. Can you do that for me?” Gilbert and Peter looked at each other. The Queen of Spades could not be without protection above the water and they formed a plan between them and they nodded.

 

“Awesome!” Gil cheered, clapping his hands together. “We have a plan! Now that's sorted, let's give you some legs, Your Majesty!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next week : Alfred finds someone unexpected but there's a bit of a problem with them.....


	3. Dry Land

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur discovers the delights of life on land …..

 

_**Chapter 3 : Dry Land** _

 

When it came to the Jokers changing Arthur, he would lose his ability to breathe in the sea so this was best done above the water and they decided to go to the same shore that Arthur had taken the king to as the starting point for Arthur to find him again.

 

“How do I return to Spades?” Arthur asked.

 

“Call me,” Gilbert replied. “A less pleasant way is the same way your land-dweller will become a mer, the way Ace Matthew did.” Arthur remembered how Matthew was when he was first found and he still had nightmares about drowning and Arthur really did not want to do that so, despite the fact he could still breathe underwater, he felt relieved that the surface world was now only a few feet above them and they all broke the surface of the water together. They were not far from where Arthur had taken the land-dweller and they swam to the spot and hid behind rocks to make sure that no land-dwellers were around before making their way to the shore where Arthur beached himself on his stomach in the shallow, lapping waves.

 

“I still think you should discuss this with the pod!” Gilbert said, again.

 

“Gilbert, we've been through this,” Arthur huffed. “I have to find the king and they would stand in the way and tell me to wait for him to come to us but that could take years, if at all. I'll be fine and it shouldn't take me long to find the land-dweller. Convincing him might take a while but I should be back soon. We have to do this to be complete, you know that!” Gilbert sighed.

 

“Ja,” he agreed. “But I still don't like it.”

 

“Everything will be fine,” Arthur reassured him and Gilbert and Peter looked at each other again.

 

“Yeah,” Peter concurred. “Nothing will happen to my brother, even if he is a jerk sometimes.”

 

“Oi, you brat!”

 

“Let's get started, ja?” Gilbert said before it all turned into a fight. “Peter, you need to sing this with me.”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Peter groused and took his place beside Gilbert.

 

“Like I said,” Gilbert said. “This won't hurt but it will make you feel strange,” Gilbert dug into the bag, salvaged from an old shipwreck that he had brought with him and pulled out a hand-sized sapphire as Arthur had been born a Spadian and both Jokers began to sing. The song was ancient and unrecognisable to everyone who heard, known only to Jokers, and light, like a mist, drifted from the sapphire and floated toward the beached royal mer.

 

When the light touched Arthur, he immediately felt strange in his hips. Not having legs, mers did not have any bones below that, other than an extended spine that ran down part of the tail and the tail itself was mostly muscles but the magic soaked into Arthur's skin and made his tail tingle as leg bones began to grow and the tail bone shrank as the tail itself began to split. It began at the bottom and went upwards as the bones grew down in the two new sections of his tail. The scales pulled into Arthur's body and revealed pink skin beneath and the flowing fan sections of the end of his tail rolled up and formed flesh that became lumps of flesh that ended with five smaller lumps of different sizes on each, resembling some kind of deformed hand. The top of his tail, where his new legs ended were topped with round, firm portions of flesh on his lower body but the front could not be seen with him lying on his stomach. Arthur watched his hands as the webbed skin between his fingers shrank, making his fingers look longer and could feel more tingling around his neck.

 

When the feeling ended, Arthur looked down at himself and saw two pale, skinny legs instead of his tail, staring at them in wonder and then he felt his neck to find that the gills were gone. He was a land-dweller! Arthur pushed himself on to ….. what were they called? Oh, legs! Arthur pushed himself on to the knobbly joints in the middle of his new legs and prepared to test them out.

 

He moved his right leg and put the foot flat on the floor and tried to get himself into an upright position. He wobbled and fell back to his knees but tried again and this time made it to both feet where he struggled with his balance to stay upright, not through lack of strength but rather a lack of co-ordination, after all he was not used to using legs and then Arthur looked down at himself and he noticed a problem. Exposed genitals.

 

Mers had no problem with nudity, they were pretty much nude all the time but their genitals only appeared when aroused and ready to mate or expelling water from their bodies whenever they felt the need, all other times they were tucked away in a slit within the confines of their tails and, to show them at any other time was considered indecent. Arthur looked down and realised that he was equally exposed and put his hands over his private parts to hide them from view and wondered if this was why land-dwellers wore coverings over their bodies.

 

“Are you all right, Arthur?” Peter asked from the water and Arthur turned toward the Joker mers.

 

“I'm fine,” Arthur replied and looked down at where his hands hid his genitalia. “But I'm exposed! I can't go among the land-dwellers like this.” Peter thought for a moment.

 

“Wait there!” he ordered. “I'll be back soon.” And Peter disappeared under the water.

 

* * * * *

 

Alfred had promised to rest for three days before venturing out but he was restless. He kept looking out of his window in the direction of the sea and the beach, not that he could see the beach from his window but something was telling him to get down there, that it was important. He tried to keep his promise but, finally he could not resist it any more, threw on some clothes and left his room.

 

* * * * *

 

Peter was back rather quickly. He had gone to the wreck of the _Baltic_ and found a trunk of land-dweller coverings and brought back something to cover Arthur's body, a brown lower body cover and a white upper one. Arthur had a problem putting them on, it was difficult while they were soaking wet and the fastenings confused him for a moment but he managed so he was decently covered, although it was a strange sensation, wearing coverings.

 

Arthur was getting used to using his new legs, although he was still a little wobbly when walking and had fallen over a few times, much to the amusement of the Red Joker but he was encouraged by Peter to keep trying.

 

“How do you plan to find the land-dweller?” Gilbert asked.

 

“He must be here somewhere,” Arthur replied. “I can find some land-dwellers around here and ask about the one who was found on this beach. I don't think he'll be too hard to find.”

 

“But what if.....,” Peter began and then they heard sounds coming toward them. Arthur fell over in surprise and the other mers swam out to sea and hid behind the rocks while Arthur struggled back to his knees. It was then that Gilbert wondered if he had forgotten something but decided it could not be important. Footsteps on the sand could be heard and a land-dweller came into view. A land-dweller with sun-kissed hair and Spadian blue eyes and Arthur's own eyes widened with surprise.

 

_It's him! This is going to be easier than I hoped!_

 

* * * * *

 

Alfred ran down to the beach without really knowing why he was going there, only that he had to and his feet thudded on the wet sand. He rounded a group of rocks and came to a stop when he saw what was there.

 

There was a man kneeling on the sand, soaking wet. He was barefoot, wearing brown trousers and a white shirt that were too big but what happened to him? Had he been caught up in a shipwreck like he had? But he had not heard of any other ships being lost at sea and he did not look like anyone on the _Baltic_ but that did not matter for now, he clearly needed help.

 

As he got closer, he could see more of the man's features. He had large eyebrows and looked like he was in his early twenties, had green eyes and blonde hair that was plastered to his scalp. He had a slender but toned physique that drew Alfred's eye as he struggled back to his feet.

 

“Are you all right?” The man looked at him in confusion, cocking his head at Alfred's words and frowning. It was as if he could not understand him.

 

* * * * *

 

Arthur watched as his future king came toward him and he was just as handsome as the first time he saw him, especially as he looked a little more healthy and wearing something strange in front of his eyes but he was disappointed that he could not see the King's Mark as the future king was wearing upper coverings and then he spoke. At least Arthur thought the land-dweller spoke but the sounds he created made no sense to Arthur, he did not recognise any of them.

 

“I'm sorry,” he replied. “I don't understand.”

 

* * * * *

 

The man continued to look at Alfred in confusion and then he spoke.

 

“ _Ack eeek,_ ” he said. “ _Ack chirp click._ ” Alfred frowned in confusion. _What was that?_

 

“I'm sorry,” he said and the man looked at him in confusion again.

 

“ _Ack eeek, ack chirp click._ ” he repeated. Alfred shook his head, still confused and the man sighed.

 

“' _ **Whistle**_ _' erk at squeal ick click?_ ” the blonde man said, questioningly. Alfred had the feeling that the man could not understand him so, could that be some weird language he was speaking? If it was a speech impediment, the man would at least know what Alfred was saying. To try and get around this language barrier, Alfred went for something simple so he patted his chest.

 

“Alfred,” he said and patted his chest again. “Alfred.”

 

* * * * *

 

Arthur tried to speak to the land-dweller but it looked like he did not understand Arthur any more than Arthur understood him and Arthur looked back at his King.

 

“What are you trying to say?” Arthur asked. The future king looked confused and frustrated and then his face cleared and he patted his chest.

 

“ _Alfred,_ ” the land-dweller said. “ _Alfred._ ” Arthur realised that he was saying his name and he tried to replicate what he was saying.

 

“Al're,” Arthur said but he frowned. It was not quite right. “Al're.” He could not get his tongue round the name but 'Al're' just smiled.

 

“ _Al,_ ” he said and Arthur smiled.

 

“Al,” he replied. That was when he realised that _Al_ bore a resemblance to Matthew and Matthew had had a twin brother called Al, had he not. Could it be that Al had not died and this was him? It would make sense that Matthew's twin would have been born to be the future king if Matthew had been born the Ace. Arthur would have to find out and, hopefully, he would have a big surprise for Matthew when he finally brought the new king back to Spades. Al smiled and pointed at Arthur and he realised that Al was asking for his name.

 

“Arthur,” he replied.

 

* * * * *

 

Alfred smiled. They were making progress and at least got the blonde man to say some variation of his name but when he asked for the man's name, he could not quite understand what the man was saying but it was definitely a language.

 

“ _Arrtre,_ ” the man said and saw Alfred frowned. “ _Arrtre._ ”

 

“Artie?” Alfred asked and the man shrugged. Alfred knew that he had not got the name right but the man was going to allow it. “Well, it's better than nothing.” Artie suddenly swayed and lost his balance, beginning to fall and Alfred rushed forward to catch him. Artie fell into his arms and Alfred felt a warmth run through his body as they made contact and, as Artie looked up at Alfred, Alfred became lost in the emerald depths that held a hint of …... Alfred did not know but it was like Artie wanted him to do something and Alfred felt a hint of recognition as he looked into Artie's face.

 

“Have we met before?” he asked but Artie did not understand what he said and so, did not answer. Alfred continued to look at Artie, trying to figure it out and could only think of one time he might have seen Artie before. Was he the one that had saved Alfred from the shipwreck but Alfred had no way of asking him, Artie did not understand his language. As he continued to look down at Artie, he saw something on Artie's chest, showing through the wet shirt. A marking of a black spade like the one on his own chest but, like with his long lost twin, Artie did not have a K in his, instead he had a Q. This could not be a coincidence and Alfred decided that, if he was going to find out what that meant and, if Artie was the one that saved him, he needed to spend more time with Artie and he put Artie's arm around his neck to support him, taking Artie back to the castle.

 

When Arthur had fallen and been caught in Alfred's arms and he looked up at him, Arthur poured all his pleading for Al to recognise him into his own eyes but there was no sign that Al remembered him but Arthur remembered that Al had not been in the best of health when they first met so maybe Al had no memory or maybe the reason Al was wearing that strange item over his eyes had something to do with it, Al had not been wearing it when Arthur pulled him from the ocean. Never mind! Arthur would find away to explain who he was and how they first met and Al pulled Arthur's arm around his shoulders and began to guide Arthur away from the beach.

 

Gilbert and Peter watched from the rocks as the land-dweller took the Spadian Queen away with him, too far for them to hear what was said but it was then that Gilbert remembered what he had forgotten.

 

“Ah, Dummkopf!“ he exclaimed, hitting himself in the head. “I forgot! He can't speak Land-dweller, that's going to be a problem!”

 

* * * * *

 

As they left the seashore and moved into the streets of the city toward the palace, Arthur began to notice a difference between the sea and the land and that was the smells. There was a fresh smell that came from the green stuff, like short seaweed that grew here and there but more unusual smells greeted Arthur's nose, some pleasant, like the building they past, out of which drifted a warm smell, cinnamon-like and sweet, as well as a smell that emanated from the new king. Not part of his natural smell but pleasant all the same, something on his skin. Not so pleasant was the smell coming from containers that stood by the sides of buildings, of something rotting assaulting Arthur's nose as the castle came into view.

 

Soldiers came to help Alfred when they saw him stumbling back to the castle gates with his burden, trying to take Arthur from him but Alfred refused to give Arthur over for which Arthur was grateful. He did not want to be separated from Alfred and was happy that Alfred continued to help him so the soldiers merely escorted them inside the castle.

 

“Your Highness!” Alfred turned toward the slightly scolding tone to see Toris coming toward him. “You should be in your room, you promised to rest for three days!” Alfred looked back at Toris, sheepishly.

 

“Yeah,” he replied, like a little boy caught doing mischief. “I'm sorry but I had to get out and get some air. Good thing I did otherwise this man would have been without help.” Toris turned and saw the blonde man, who seemed to have trouble walking, being assisted by Alfred.

 

“Who is he?” he asked curiously.

 

“So far, I only know that his name is Artie,” Alfred replied. “He doesn't seem to understand our language and he speaks a strange one. I think he got shipwrecked and washed up here.” Toris gave Arthur a good look and spotted something through the still wet shirt.

 

“He has a marking, similar to yours, Your Highness!”

 

“You noticed that,” Alfred replied. “That's why I brought him back with me, I want to find out what it all means. In the meantime, I want him taken care of.”

 

“I'll arrange for rooms and a bath, Your Highness,” Toris replied. “I'm sure he'll want to wash the sea off him after such an ordeal.”

 

“I want him close by me, I think,” Alfred advised. “I think he'll be more comfortable being near someone familiar.” Toris nodded.

 

“Of course, Your Highness,” he replied and left to make the arrangements while two footmen came to assist Alfred with the newcomer. Alfred, once again, refused to relinquish Arthur and helped him to his chambers himself.

 

Arthur was ushered into Alfred's room which was filled with strange items and Arthur could only guess at their functions. Some of the items looked like you might sit on them, like mers would sit on rocks or for putting things on but Arthur could not understand what the large thing was that dominated the room. It was like a sleeping stone but it was almost perfectly square and it lacked sand. Instead, what sat on top of that looked like it was made of something similar to the coverings that the land-dwellers wore and was coloured blue which Arthur found very fitting, considering Al's destiny. In each corner was a post that supported a roof above the whole thing and more coverings stuff hung from the roofing and reached the floor.

 

Alfred helped Arthur over to the bed and sat him down on it and Arthur was surprised when whatever covered the thing that he sat on gave underneath him. He pushed down beside him and his hand sank into the surface and Arthur found it very soft and squishy. He started bouncing on the squishy thing, laughing, although all Alfred heard was _Ack, ack, ack, ack!_

 

Alfred looked at Artie, bouncing on the edge of the bed, making that strange sound and, at first, he was perplexed. It was like Artie had never sat on a bed before but then Artie looked to him like a little boy who had discovered a new toy and could not help but smile. Then Arthur stopped bouncing as there was a knock on the door and it opened to show Toris at the door.

 

“I have maids airing the rooms, two doors away, Your Highness,” he said. That put Artie next to Toris's chamber which were next to Alfred's. “A bath is ready for our guest and the king wishes to see you.”

 

“Ughh!” Alfred complained. He had wanted to stay with Artie but when the king calls ……

 

“Sorry, Artie,” he said, turning to his new guest. “I'll be back soon. Toris will take care of you while I'm gone.” The only word Arthur understood was _Artie_ and then Alfred walked out of the room, leaving Arthur alone with the stranger who had greeted them when they came to the palace that Alfred had introduced as Toris.

 

“This way, Sir Artie,” Toris said, assisting Arthur out of the door.

 

* * * * *

 

“You wanted to see me, Uncle?” Alfred said as he walked into the king's study. King Alex looked up from the parchment he was perusing to look at his nephew.

 

“Do you know the meaning of 'rest for a few days'?” he asked. “And who's your new friend?” Alfred sighed. News travels fast around here.

 

“I'm sorry, Uncle,” he replied. “But I just had this need to be out there.”

 

“What surprises me is you went to the beach,” Alex said, candidly. “After what happened, I expected you to be in the opposite direction.”

 

“I know,” Alfred mused. “I just found myself going that way. Just as well 'cause that's where I found Artie.”

 

“Artie?” the king frowned. “That's the man's name?”

 

“Close enough,” Alfred replied. “I don't know for sure, he doesn't speak our language.”

 

“And where is he now?”

 

“Toris has arrange rooms for him,” Alfred said. “Uncle, I think …..well, I think this is the guy that saved me.”

 

“How can you know for sure?”

 

“I can't,” Alfred replied, honestly. “But perhaps if I spend some time with him, I might find out.” The slight blush on Alfred's cheeks did not go unnoticed by King Alex so it was clear to him that his nephew was developing a crush on the stranger but he did not know if he liked this or not. He had not even met the stranger yet and the alliance with Mertoris could be beneficial but, on the other hand, he wanted his nephew to be happy, something he had not been for a long time. There were times when he seemed happy but Alex could always see the sadness lurking deep within Alfred's blue eyes and sometimes, the happiness he was showing was fake, a façade to hide the grief that had never left him. If this stranger could drive that away, it would be worth sacrificing the alliance.

 

“Very well,” he said. “Spend time with the man, see if it is him. If it is, we owe him much. Maybe we can find out why he didn't stay around.” Alfred silently admitted that he would like to know the answer to that himself.

 

* * * * *

 

Arthur was fascinated with the large container full of water, warmer than any he had ever felt, and with the bubbles that floated on the surface that he picked up with his fingers and blew into the air and watched as they floated about before they burst. It felt strange not having water in his mouth all the time so he put his hand into the bath, scooped up some and brought it to his mouth to taste the water, distracting Toris who was trying to remove the upper body covering that had dried against his skin. The water tasted bad, some foreign taste stung Arthur's tongue, making him gag and spit the water out while Toris rushed to get him some clean water, confused as to why their new guest had tried to drink the soapy bath water and helped Arthur gulped the clean water down. It was missing the salt but it helped clear the foul taste from Arthur's tongue. He could feel moisture on his upper covering where the water had escaped both the glass and his mouth and he relished the familiar feel of moisture against his skin again. It was a strange sensation being dry but he could still feel the salt on his skin and in his hair which was a comfort.

 

Toris managed to unbutton the upper covering but stopped when he opened it and Arthur found Toris staring at his Queen's mark. Toris had assisted Alfred many times when he bathed so he was well-acquainted with the mark that sat over Alfred's heart and, even though Alfred had told him that Sir Artie had a similar mark, to see something so familiar on a complete stranger …... Toris shook his head and continued to help Sir Artie but when he reached to undo Sir Artie's trousers, the blonde man shot back so hard, he fell over.

 

Arthur wondered why the brown-haired land-dweller had been reaching for his lower covering and then he realised that he meant to remove it and Arthur moved back so fast that he lost his balance and fell down. Toris looked confused by his reaction but Arthur could not expose himself. The upper covering was no problem, there was nothing on his upper body that was indecent but, in his land-dweller form, Arthur had no way to hide his genitalia without the covering and he was shocked that the land-dweller wanted him to expose himself.

 

Toris was surprised by Sir Artie's reaction. Other than the bath incident, he had had no problem removing Sir Artie's shirt but when he reached for Sir Artie's trousers, the man reacted like Toris was coming at him with a dagger and now he was looking up at Toris with a disgusted look, like Toris had done something offensive. Was the man prudish about undressing before others? But Sir Artie had had no problem with the shirt …

 

Toris wondered if he had committed some kind of cultural taboo, that it was forbidden for anyone to see him naked but that did not seem right because, if that was the case, then taking off the shirt would have been an issue too. Was there something about exposing his private parts? That made more sense to Toris, he just wished that he could ask Sir Artie what he had done wrong. Then there was the sound of someone entering the chambers and Alfred came into the bathing chamber to see Arthur sat on the floor, staring up at Toris like he was a snake about to strike.

 

“What happened?” he asked. It looked bad for Toris but Alfred knew that Toris would do nothing to harm Artie so this had to be some kind of accident.

 

“I'm not sure, Your Highness,” Toris replied. “Sir Artie was fine when I removed his shirt but when I tried to remove his trousers, he fell, moving away from me. I don't think he wanted to be seen completely naked.” Alfred thought that maybe Toris was right. He had assisted Alfred with his baths before so Alfred was all right with the nude state in front of Toris but he would not be with a complete stranger so it made sense that Artie might object. He went to Arthur and held his hand to help Arthur back to his feet and he wondered how to explain to a man that did not understand him. His eyes were drawn to Arthur's bare chest, which was not broad but toned, and more especially, to the mark that mimicked his own. He shook his head and turned to the problem at hand. How to explain to Artie to get in the bath when he did not understand them.

 

“Artie,” Alfred said to get his full attention. “We'll leave. (He indicated to Toris and himself and then pointed to the door) You get undressed and get in the bath (He pointed to Arthur and mimed taking off his trousers, then made motions to get into the bath) then we'll come back. (He pointed to Toris and himself again, pointed back to the door and then to the floor where they were standing) Okay?”

 

Arthur watched Alfred as he did his little pantomime and worked out what he was trying to tell him. They would leave so he could undress in privacy but they wanted him to get into the water. Why? Then they would come back. Arthur supposed that the soapy bubbles would cover him and he nodded his agreement.

 

“Okay, Toris,” Alfred said. “Let's give Artie a moment of privacy.” And both men left while Arthur looked at the bath with curiosity. Did land-dwellers really submerge themselves in warm, foul-tasting, bubbly water? Arthur shrugged. As long as he did not drink it, when on land, do as the land-dwellers do!

 

He removed his lower covering, feeling expose for a moment and stepped into the container with the warm water. The warmth actually felt good against the skin of his new lower appendages and he sat down in it. It was not large enough for him to stretch out his legs but it was deep enough to cover his nether regions and he gathered bubbles together to hide them altogether. then Arthur sat in the water, wondering what to do next.

 

* * * * *

 

Toris and Alfred waited outside in the main bedchamber as a maid built up and lit the fire before curtseying and leaving. Alfred was hoping that Artie had understood what he had mimed to him while Toris found the man that his prince had found very strange and as for that mark …..

 

“Your Highness,” he began. “Did you notice his mark is almost exactly like yours?” Alfred nodded.

 

“I saw it through his wet shirt on the beach,” he replied. “It's one of the reasons I brought him back, it made me curious.”

 

“He's ….. a little strange,” Toris said with caution. “He didn't seem to know what the bath was for. He actually tried to drink the water and his reaction to being undressed....”

 

“Maybe his people don't undress each other,” Alfred replied. “It might have seemed strange, even offensive to him, although I admit, the water thing is odd. Maybe his people don't like bathing but he doesn't look like he's never bathed, there was no dirt under his finger nails or anything.” The sea might wash away bodily dirt but finger nails would be a different thing and his skin looked healthy. “Maybe we'll learn to understand him and he can explain everything to us.” Toris hummed, noting the fact that Alfred had it in his mind that Sir Artie was going to be with them for a while.

 

“I wonder if he's in the bath yet,” Toris mused. Alfred knocked on the door.

 

“Artie!” he called out. “We're coming back in.” Alfred opened the door slowly so that Arthur could give out a shout if he was not in the bath yet. When no shout came, Alfred and Toris entered the room to see Arthur sat in the soapy water of the bath and Alfred smiled at the cute scene of Arthur surrounded by bubbles.

 

“There,” Alfred said. “That wasn't so bad, was it?” Arthur just cocked his head at him as Toris came toward the bath.

 

“We can get started now, Sir Artie,” he said with a friendly tone. “Let's start with your hair.” It felt familiar and comforting when Toris poured water over his hair but strange when he poured something thick but with a pleasant smell over it and began rubbing it into his scalp. Strange but oddly soothing, similar to when his palace attendants would run their hands through his hair to dislodge any seaweed or small sea creatures that got tangled up in it. Alfred had mimed keeping his eyes close while Toris did this so Arthur did that and almost fell asleep as the scalp massage lured him into a drowsy contentment.

 

Toris brought over a jug of fresh water to rinse the shampoo out of Sir Artie's hair, flattening it against his scalp. Sitting and watching, Alfred found it strange that Artie's first reaction was not to rubbed the water out of his face as Toris moved on to cleansing Artie's body. As each body part was washed, Alfred found his mouth going dry. Artie was wiry but with well defined muscles, covered with pale, soft looking skin and Alfred itched to touch it. Toris had finished washing Artie and Alfred realised that he had just sat through another man's bath and he blushed. Then came the next problem. Getting Artie out of the bath while preserving his modesty.

 

Toris completed his strange ritual of rubbing Arthur's body with a cloth after finishing pouring water over his head, washing out the strange substance that Toris had rubbed in and Arthur had wondered what it had been all about. Then Toris stepped away and picked up some covering that was just a large piece that he held out in front of him. Then Toris and Al averted their eyes and Arthur understood what to do. He stood up and took the covering, wrapping it around his waist to hide his nether regions. Toris looked back at him and smiled before helping him out of the water filled container and he went for another piece of covering that he used to rub over Arthur's hair and then rubbed over his body, absorbing the water.

 

Arthur raised his hand to his nose and smelt his skin which now carried a smell that was not unpleasant but the smell of salt-water was now missing, making Arthur feel a little homesick. Toris finished rubbing him with the covering and they all moved into the bedchamber where some coverings were waiting on the bed. Toris picked one of them up and it was a lower covering that was thinner than the one Arthur had been wearing and Toris helped Arthur put them on and he was able to discard the covering around his waist and Toris put the other covering on him, an upper covering. Both were a little big on him and very light but he was not exposed.

 

Toris guided Arthur closer to the lit fire, seating him in front of it and continued to rub his hair while Arthur stared at the flickering, orange thing in fascination. It did not seem solid but it gave off a warmth that left Arthur's hair mostly dry, Toris got an item that had many prongs in it and began to pull it through the blonde strands, not noticing Arthur's hand reaching toward the fire. Arthur wanted to find out what the flickering thing felt like. It got warmer against his hand as Arthur reached nearer, almost unbearably so. He was close to touching it when his wrist was suddenly seized by another hand and pulled away.

 

“What are you doing, Artie?” Arthur turned to see Alfred's shocked expression. When Alfred saw Arthur reaching toward the fire, he thought Arthur was just seeking more warmth but when he realised that Arthur was trying to touch the fire, he dove forward and pulled Arthur's hand back before he could burn himself. Arthur looked up at Alfred in confusion and Alfred realised that Arthur did not know that the fire could hurt him. Who did not know that touching fire was dangerous?

 

“Artie, you can't touch the fire!” Alfred said. “It burns!” Arthur just looked at Alfred in confusion so Alfred stretched his own hand toward the fire, pulled it back and faked a look of pain. A look of realisation swept over Arthur's face. Alfred was telling him that touching the orange flickering could harm him. Now Toris was staring at Arthur, at the man who did not know that you did not play with fire. Who did not know that? The message had hit home as Arthur stared at the fire with apprehension and even pulled away a little and Alfred nodded to Toris who continued to comb Arthur's hair. Like the head massage, it was soothing and soon, Arthur was yawning. It had been an exciting day and, even though it was not dark yet, Arthur was feeling tired and was nodding off. When Toris finished, his hair was pretty much dry and he guided the tired blonde to the bed and pulled back the covers, making Arthur lie down, putting his head on the pillows before pulling the coverings back over him.

 

Arthur had never known something so comfortable and he fell further into sleep as Alfred came over, rubbed his hair and said something that Arthur did not understand as sleep claimed him.

 

* * * * *

 

Alfred watched as Artie's eyes drifted closed, he came over to the side of the bed, ruffled Artie's hair and said, “Sleep well, Artie. I'll see you when you wake up.” By then Artie was completely out. Alfred and Toris quietly left the room, Alfred giving the sleeping figure one more look before silently shutting the door.

 

* * * * *

 

A ship, flying the flag of the kingdom of Mertoris, sailed across the waves with a young woman, dressed in the best finery stood at the bow of the ship with her eyes firmly fixed in the direction they were going, in the direction of the Sea Prince, the man she was going to marry. Princess Erica had short blonde hair with a red hair-band and eyes that were blue, a shade darker than Alfred's. From the moment she laid eyes on the handsome Altheian prince, she was determined that he would be hers, despite her brother's attempt to reduce the time they spent together during Prince Alfred's visit. She had heard the whispers around the court about her. _The King's making sure she doesn't spend too much time with the Altheian prince so he doesn't realise what she's like. Spoilt! Obsessive! Unstable!_

 

She would show them! That's why she boarded this ship a few days after Alfred left, following him to Altheia. She would come back with Prince Alfred on her arm as her husband.

 

He was hers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next week : Spades now has a missing king AND queen and Arthur meets the rest of the Altheian royal family....


	4. Royal Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur gives the Altheian Royal Family a surprise.....

 

 

_**Chapter 4 : Royal Family** _

 

 

_Arthur floated with pride as the citizens of Klondike greeted their new king, rejoicing in the wonderful news that Spades now had a complete royal pod. Al's new tail was even longer than his, strong and muscular with blue scales, like all Spadians. His golden hair drifted in the water, exposing the gills on his neck and he no longer wore glasses as the transformation corrected his eye sight. Al looked at Arthur with a smile, holding out his hand to him, showing the webbed skin between his fingers and Arthur put his hand in Al's who pulled him over to him and his face got closer to Arthur's and Arthur was sure he was going to kiss him._

 

_But, as Arthur got closer, Al changed. While similar, his features were not the ones Arthur knew and his hair changed from blonde to dark red-brown and his eyes changed too, becoming a light brownish-green and he looked like he was looking at Arthur with his head on one side._

 

“Hello, I'm Prince Jason, Alfred's cousin,” Prince Jason said, looking at the strange man in the bed of the guest chamber. “Wow! I can see why Alfie likes you. You're cute for a guy.” The guy's eyes seemed to focus as he fully woke up and realised that there was a stranger staring at him and shot away from him.

 

 _“Skreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech,_ _”_ Jason shot backwards, falling on his backside with his hands on his ears, trying to block out the ear-piercing sound that erupted from the freaked-out man.

 

* * * * *

 

It had taken Arthur a moment to fully waken and remember everything that happened the day before and then he realised there was a strange land-dweller looking at him and saying something Arthur could not understand. He reacted on instinct and gave out a similar screech to the one he gave when King Francis groped his tail, but without the dumbing down affect of the water, it was far more potent than Arthur intended and the land-dweller could not get away from him fast enough and ended up in a heap on the floor with his hands over his ears.

 

“Ow, ow, ow!” Jason moaned. “What was that?! Oh, my ears!” The door opened and Alfred shot through the door. He had been coming toward Artie's chamber when he heard the screech. He had no idea what could make such a noise but it was coming from Artie's room so he ran to his rescue, only to find a wide-eyed Artie sat up, ram-rod straight in the bed, breath coming in terrified pants and Jason prone on the floor, covering his ears like his brain was about to dribble out of them.

 

“What happened?” he demanded. Jason got up off the floor, still rubbing his ears.

 

“I wanted to meet our new guest,” Jason replied. “When he woke up, he freaked out.”

 

“Do you blame him?” Alfred scolded. “I'd freak out too if I woke up to find a stranger staring at me.”

 

“I told him who I was.”

 

“He doesn't speak or understand our language,” Alfred replied. “So it was probably gibberish to him and what was that screeching noise?” Jason pointed to Arthur.

 

“That was him,” he said. “When he woke up and saw me. I never heard such a noise before, I'm sure my ears are bleeding.”

 

“You can hear me well enough so I doubt it,” Alfred replied and turned to Arthur. He did not wonder too much about the sound, Arthur made strange sounds anyway. “Are you okay, Artie?” Arthur just cocked his head in confusion and Alfred sighed. He patted Arthur's arms and shoulders as if checking for injuries and repeated himself. Arthur realised that Alfred was asking about his welfare and he nodded his head to tell him he was fine. Alfred looked relieved and then pointed to his cousin.

 

“This is Jason,” he said. “Ja...son.”

 

“J....ack....un,” Jason raised his eyebrows at the butchering of his name and Alfred saw it.

 

“I don't think he can pronounce certain sounds,” he explained. Jason shrugged.

 

“Oh well,” he said. “If he can't, then he can't. By the way, Dad wants to meet him so we're all having lunch together.” Alfred groaned. His uncle would try to grill Artie about himself and, with Artie not being able to communicate with them properly, that was going to be a joy.

 

* * * * *

 

Upon being informed that Sir Artie would be lunching with the king and the two princes, Toris went in search of appropriate apparel while Arthur was eating breakfast which was confusing to the now human mer. There was some kind of square things, brown around the sides and in the centre but white toward the edges, sat on a flat white thing with blobs of yellow stuff in a bowl beside it. There was a larger white flat thing with strange items on it like a funny shaped white thing with a yellow blob in the centre, wrinkled brown strips and long, round brown things with brown knobbly things beside them. Beside all these things were long silver items, some with flat ends, some ending in prongs and, also on the tray that a maid had brought was a round thing with a handle on one side and a protrusion on the other that seem to be hollow with vapour drifting out of it and beside it was a little empty container with a little handle, made of stone and stood on a flattish round thing with a little silver stick with a round part on the end. Similar containers, one containing some white sand-like stuff and another holding a white liquid stood beside them.

 

“Do you need help, Sir Artie?” the maid who brought his breakfast asked as Arthur stared at the food in puzzlement. The maid had heard that the new guest was some kind of foreigner and new to the ways of the kingdom so she took pity on him. Arthur only understood 'Artie' and cocked his head at the female land-dweller, questioningly. She smiled at him before picking up the teapot and pouring tea into the teacup beside it. She then added milk and two teaspoons of sugar before stirring it and then she handed the teacup to Arthur. Arthur held the cup, not sure what to do with it and looked up at the maid who mimed picking up the cup and drinking from it. Arthur brought the cup to his mouth, feeling the heat coming from it and tentatively took a sip.

 

What was this glorious liquid? Arthur's eyes widened with amazement as the taste of the tea swept over his tongue, bursting with hints of something sweet and another taste, maybe the white stuff, that he could not identify but loved just the same but the strongest taste must be the brownish liquid that the land-dweller had poured into the container that Arthur was drinking from. Arthur thought it tasted like some kind of plant, not seaweed but, whatever it was, Arthur loved it and he went for another sip as the maid buttered his toast for him.

 

The maid introduced Arthur to the other food on his tray, the eggs, bacon, sausage and mushrooms. They were warm and tasted different to anything that Arthur had ever eaten but not unpleasantly so and he had just finished when Toris returned with some clothes for Arthur to wear.

 

There were several outfits and Toris tried to get Arthur to pick the green to match his eyes but Arthur shook his head vigorously. He was the Queen of Spades and he would not display another kingdom's colours and his eyes fell on a blue outfit, a suit of royal blue with a waistcoat of a lighter shade and a white shirt with a collar bow and he pointed to that, indicating to Toris that he wanted to wear that colour. After much argument from Toris how the green would suit Arthur better, an argument Arthur did not understand a word of, Toris conceded and dressed Arthur in blue which Toris had to admit that Arthur did not look bad in.

 

There was a knock on the door and Alfred came in when Toris called 'enter'. He had decided to show Arthur around the palace before lunch with King Alex but he stopped short when he saw Arthur in his new finery. Toris had done well to find clothes that fitted Arthur without adjustment and the suit moulded itself to Arthur's slender figure. His hair, while combed, was still somewhat untamed and fluffed around his head like a halo and his emerald eyes lit up at the sight of Alfred. He took Alfred's breath away.

 

“You look.....,” Alfred said, softly. “....very nice.” He cringed inwardly at the trite comment, could he not come up with a better compliment than that?!

 

Arthur did not know what Alfred had said to him but the look Alfred was giving him told Arthur all he needed to know and he blushed, rubbing the back of his head with his right hand and got slightly distracted by his dry, _soft_ hair. His hair had never felt like that before and he wondered if it was something to do with the stuff that the brown-haired land-dweller had rubbed into his hair the day before and he continued to feel the soft strands, then he realised that Alfred was still in the room and speaking to Toris.

 

“I thought I would take Artie on a tour of the palace before we meet Uncle Alex for lunch,” he was saying. “That is if he's ready?”

 

“He just needs shoes, Your Highness,” Toris replied, picking up the shiny black footwear, putting it on the floor and kneeling by Arthur's feet and appeared to be waiting for something. Arthur looked down at the black things in confusion, wondering what they were and then looked at Alfred before looking at his feet to see that he was wearing similar things and realised that they were foot coverings. How many coverings did land-dwellers wear? Still, Arthur raised his right foot, wobbling and putting his hands on Toris's shoulders to keep his balance, and Toris picked up a shoe, putting it on Arthur's foot and tying the laces before repeating the process with his left foot. The shoes were a little big and felt strange but Arthur supposed that they would protect his feet, remembering how little rocks and other things dug into his skin as he walked to the castle the day before.

 

Now Arthur was ready, Alfred smiled and stepped forward, reaching out his hand to the mer who took it and blushed slightly as Alfred pulled Arthur toward him and began to guide Arthur out of the door.

 

“We'll be back just after lunch, Toris,” Alfred turned back to say. “I might want to take Artie out riding. Well, assuming he can ride.” Toris nodded.

 

“I'll have riding clothes ready, Your Highness,” he replied. Alfred smiled at Toris before he and Arthur went out of the door and it closed behind them.

 

* * * * *

 

Chaos was running rampant under the water and had been ever since they discovered that the Queen of Spades was missing. A servant was sent to summon the Queen for Evening Meal but returned with the news that the Queen was not in his chambers. So more servants and guards went to search the coral palace and the city, continuing through the night but then the news came back that the Queen was nowhere to be found. Matthew had even gone to the beach where Arthur had taken the new king but there was no sign.

 

“I should have realised,” Yao muttered, swimming back and forth. “I saw the Queen's obsession with finding the king, I should have realised he would go and try again, aru.”

 

“If that's what Arthur has done,” Matthew replied. “Although, I'd say it's pretty likely but how does he think he can find the king when he can't go on land? What does he think he can achieve?”

 

“And where is he?” Yao replied. “Could he have been taken while trying to find the king? By another kingdom? Clubs has always been ready to take advantage of an opportunity to gain power over another kingdom, aru.”

 

“I think we would know by now,” Matthew replied. “Besides, since the new royals have taken power, things have calmed down a little, probably due to the influence of the Queen and Jack. No, I don't think we'll be getting any kind of demand any time soon.”

 

“What if he was seen by a land-dweller?” Yao said, the realisation suddenly hitting him. “What if he was seen and captured and taken on land? We will have lost both our queen and king, aru.” Matthew did not like the idea of that but thought it more likely. The Queen captured and displayed as a curiosity, possibly mistreated. Matthew knew that there were cruel land-dwellers up there, more than a few.

 

“The disappearance of the Queen should be kept within our own kingdom for the time being,” he said. “For as long as possible while we go to see the Jokers. If anyone knows what happened to the Queen, they will.”

 

* * * * *

 

Arthur's eyes looked everywhere, there was just so much to see and so much to try and understand but, by far and away, his favourite place was outside the palace, a place Al called _The Gardens._ Clouds of green were held up by towering pillars of brown and they made rustling sounds as the breeze blew through the green clouds. Beneath their feet was more of the short seaweed looking stuff, giving off its pleasant fresh smell but then there was the other things in the gardens, the bright, colourful things that Alfred called _flowers_ and made Arthur think of a coral reef, bursting with different hues but these things consisted of round, flat soft circles that bunched together, each with a different shape and colour. And the scents! The most heavenly aromas caressed Arthur's nose and one smell especially drew him to flowers that grew on stalks with pointed things on them and the flowers were coloured reds and pinks and yellows, although Arthur was saddened to see that there were no blue ones. He bent over one of the flowers to smell its miraculous scent and held the stalk with his fingers, only to pull back in pain when some of the pointed things pricked his fingertips.

 

“Careful,” Alfred said, taking out a handkerchief to mop the blood away that was forming on Arthur's fingers and wrapped it round them. “Mind the thorns, Artie.” Arthur looked up into Alfred's eyes and became trapped there. Alfred was equally entranced as they stood, not moving as Alfred and Arthur became lost in sapphire and emerald depths, not even noticing that they seemed to be getting closer and closer to each other as their eyes slid down to each others lips. Arthur thought Alfred's lips were very soft looking and he wondered how they would feel while, to Alfred, Arthur's lips seemed a little chapped as he drew closer to him, wondering how they would feel against his own....

 

Then he came to his senses. What was he doing? This man had been swept in by the tide, just the day before and here Alfred was, making advances toward him and Alfred cursed himself for his lack of subtlety. He drew back as casually as he could manage, leaving Arthur looking slightly dazed and a little …. guilty?

 

Arthur saw Alfred draw back from him, leaving him a little bereft and then the gravity of what he was about to do hit him. He had been about to kiss the soon-to-be King of Spades and Arthur had yet to make his destiny known to him, to say nothing of how Al would feel about being kissed by someone he had only known for a day at most. Too soon, way to soon!

 

“Time for lunch,” Alfred said, just to cover the awkward moment and began to guide Arthur back into the castle. Arthur, who had not understood a word, just allowed himself to be guided.

 

* * * * *

 

Arthur did not know what to make of the older dark-haired land-dweller wearing the shiny band around his head that all the other land-dwellers seemed to pay a lot of respect to, then he realised that it was similar to the respect that Spadians paid toward the royal pod and came to the conclusion that the dark haired land-dweller was possibly some kind of land-dweller royalty himself. He decided to err on the side of caution and greet the possible royal as he would one of the Card royals while visiting the royal's kingdom. He place his right hand over the place where his mark was and bowed his head. This hid the royal mark and acknowledged the other royal's power and Arthur paid this land-dweller the same courtesy.

 

King Alex raised an eyebrow at the unfamiliar but clearly respectful gesture that the unknown blonde man had paid to him and turned to Alfred.

 

“Did you managed to tell him who I am?” he asked his nephew but Alfred shook his head.

 

“No, Uncle Alex,” he replied. “We can't communicate that much. I guess he's just picking up on how everyone else treats you and assumes you're someone of importance.”

 

“An intelligent man,” Alex commented. “Well, let's eat. No use waiting for Jason, he always turns up ten minutes after we start. He'll have to improve on that little fault when he's King. Can't be late to important meetings with other kingdoms, can he?” Alfred just grinned and turned to Arthur.

 

“Artie,” he said and indicated to his uncle. “This is King Alexander of Altheia.”

 

“Ki' Al'ack'ada a Al'e'a,” Arthur tried and winced at the butchered pronunciation that sounded bad even to him. Alfred looked at his uncle who looked amused rather than offended.

 

“Seems too much for him,” he replied. “If he can manage 'King Alex', that will be fine.” Alfred turned back to Arthur again.

 

“King Alex,” he pronounced. “King Alex.”

 

“Ki' Al'ack.”

 

“King Alex.”

 

“Kin' Aleck.”

 

“I think that's the best we're going to get,” Alex commented before turning to Arthur. “I'm pleased to meet you, Sir Artie.” Arthur might not have understood the king's words exactly but understood that he had been given some kind of greeting and saluted him again. They were interrupted by the door to the King's Parlour opening and Jason rushed in.

 

“Sorry I'm late, Dad,” he gasped, clearly winded after running. Alex smirked.

 

“You're actually on time for a change,” he quipped. “To what do we owe that honour?” Jason looked sheepish.

 

“Well, I kind of wanted to get to know Artie here,” Jason replied. “Alfred's escape from the sea notwithstanding, Artie's the most interesting thing to happen for a while.” Alex laughed and turned to Arthur.

 

“You managed to get my son to get here on time, Sir Artie,” he said. “Your presence is already a good influence.” Alfred laughed along with his uncle while Arthur just cocked his head in confusion.

 

When just eating with family and friends, lunch was always served in the King's Parlour and they sat down to a table set for four and waited for the servants to serve the food. They placed small bowls of food on the table in front of the diners and poured wine into the glasses. Arthur looked down at his bowl, not recognising much there, at least by looking at it but there was definitely something on his plate that came from the sea. On a bed of green leafy stuff sat pink, curled up things, covered with something pink and gloopy. He watched the others pick up a particular fork to eat and looked down at the cutlery in front of him and found it. He used it to pick up one of the curly pink things, sniffed it and warily put it into his mouth, tasting it and his eyes widened with surprise. It was _Shrimp!_

 

Despite being fish related themselves, mer ate fish and shellfish. Were, in fact, predators of those species and they made up the majority of a mer's diet, certain seaweeds and plankton making up the rest so Arthur had eaten shrimp before but this was different, apart from the fact that their shells had been removed. Land-dwellers must do something to shrimp that mers either don't or can't do to it. Whatever it was made it tasty and Arthur eagerly ate the remaining shrimp, trying the sauce that had been put on it. Delicious!

 

The other three diners watched as Arthur popped shrimp after shrimp into his mouth and chewed with obvious enjoyment and it left Jason snorting with laughter.

 

“He eats like you, Alfie,” he chortled. “He was practically inhaling that shrimp.” Arthur looked up to see everyone looking at him, the one called Ja'ack'un laughing. He had clearly done something to make people think he was strange and he put down the little pronged stick he had been eating the shrimp with and looked down at his lap. It was not what he usually used to eat anything. The normal way for a mer was to just eat it raw.....with their hands......but Arthur used the little pronged thing because the land-dwellers were, to appear normal but clearly he had done something wrong.

 

Alfred watched as Arthur drooped while the shrimp cocktails were cleared away and the next course was brought in but Arthur showed no interest in the food and he was ill at ease. Alfred wondered at Arthur's turnabout in his mood, going from enjoying the food to acting like it was not in front of him. The only thing that Alfred could think of was Arthur realised that his eating habits had drawn attention and now he was embarrassed.

 

“Artie,” he said and Arthur looked up at him, his face painted with a cute blush as Alfred put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “You haven't done anything wrong. Please eat, I know you want to.” Knowing Arthur could not understand him, Alfred picked up the knife and fork and put them into Arthur's hands and helped him cut into the cooked lamb on his plate. Arthur looked up at Alfred as he pulled the hand holding the fork and guided it to Arthur's mouth.

 

Arthur opened his mouth to take in the morsel of food that Alfred was bringing to his mouth, the taste similar to what he had eaten at breakfast but not quite the same but the taste was lost when he found himself looking in Alfred's eyes again. He just could not look in Alfred's eyes without getting lost in them and Alfred was just as lost in Arthur's eyes too.

 

They forgot their audience. Alex and Jason watched as Alfred helped Arthur cut his lamb and fed it to him, knowing that Alfred was clueless to how much of his inner feelings he put on display in those unguarded moments, showing that he was falling and falling hard.

 

“Harrumph,” Alex cleared his throat to bring the two love-birds back to reality. They both looked at him with Arthur looking puzzled at the king while Alfred blushed. “I was thinking, Alfred. When we finish lunch, we could go to the library and check out the maps and Arthur might be able to show us where he comes from.”

 

“Sounds like a plan,” Alfred replied and turned back to Arthur. “Artie?” But Artie was not listening. While Alfred and Alex spoke, Arthur had looked around the room and he saw big square things on the walls that he had seen in other parts of the castle. The squares were daubed with colours that were arranged to make up an image of something like an object or a person. There were no such things underwater, the closest thing being images made of small pieces of coral of different colours but these images were smooth to the touch and Arthur had been fascinated by them as no two were the same. Now he had new ones to look at and one in particular caught his eye.

 

On this particular square was the image of four people, an adult male and female and two very young males. The adult male looked like the king with his hands on the shoulders of the two children with a look of pride on his face, the female bore a resemblance to the two boys, with Alfred's eyes and had a loving smile on her face but it was the boys that held Arthur's attention the most. One of the boys had the bluest eyes and a cowlick that stuck up above his head. Despite the age of the boy in the image, it was obvious that the boy was Alfred.

 

And then there was the other boy. Blonde hair with a single springy curl sticking down between his violet eyes and Arthur's breath caught in his throat. He stood up from the table and walked over to the painting that hung on the wall to his left, his eyes never leaving the violet eyed boy in the image.

 

Alfred watched Arthur get up and walk over to the painting of Alfred's parents and himself and Matthew, painted just before the accident that had robbed him of his mother. Alfred and Matthew had been almost three when the painting was done and Alfred only had vague memories of it, although he had been told it almost never got done because he would not stop fidgeting. He was glad it had been done though. It was evidence that his parents and brother had existed.

 

Arthur reached up to touch the painting with a reverence born of the knowledge of what he was seeing. He was looking at an image of Alfred's family, although he was confused as to why Ja'ack'un was not in the painting. But there was no doubt as to who the violet eyed boy was, he could not be anyone else!

 

“Artie,” Alfred said and Arthur turned toward him. Alfred smiled and pointed to the painting. “That's me.” He pointed to the blue eyed boy in the painting and to himself, then he pointed to the violet eyed boy. “And that's …..”

 

“Ma'ew!” Arthur blurted and Alfred stared at him in shock. Alex and Jason came over at Arthur's exclamation.

 

“What did he say?!” Alex asked, although the question was rhetorical. They all had heard what Arthur said and Arthur pointed to the boy on the painting and repeated, “Ma'ew! Ma'ew!”

 

“Is he trying to say Matthew?” Jason asked, breathlessly. “How does he even know Matthew?”

 

This was the proof Arthur needed to know that what he had suspected was true. Matthew's brother, Al had never drowned when he was four, that somehow he had been saved and Arthur was now stood with him, stood beside the next King of Spades. He had to get Al back to Spades as soon as possible, to show Matthew that his brother was still alive.

 

Alfred put his hands on both Arthur's shoulders and turned Arthur to face him. He did not dare to hope that somehow his brother was still living but if what Arthur was saying were true....

 

“Artie,” he said, hopefully. “Is Matthew alive?” Arthur just looked at him, not understanding a word Alfred was saying. Alfred racked his brains for a way to mime to Arthur what he was asking, then he pointed to the painted image of Matthew and put his fist over his heart and began moving it away from his chest and then bringing it back to simulate a heartbeat. Arthur got what Alfred was asking and he nodded. Alfred's actual heartbeat sped up at the simple bobbing up and down of Arthur's head that told him that Matthew was alive. _His brother was alive!_

 

“Where is he?” Arthur just looked confused again. Alfred pointed back to the painting and then moved his hands as if to say 'where?' Arthur nodded in understanding and dragged Alfred over to the window where the sea peeked between two out-croppings of land and pointed to that.

 

“ _Eek ick ack chirp! (He's in the sea!)_ ” Arthur said, forgetting that Alfred could not understand him in his excitement. He had realised that, just as it had been assumed that his brother was dead, his family thought Matthew had died and Arthur was so happy to deliver the news that Alfred's long lost brother was alive and well.

 

Alfred looked confused as Arthur pointed toward the ocean and spoke in his strange language. What was he saying? Was Arthur trying to say that Matthew was living where Arthur came from?

 

“Is he in your homeland, Arthur?” he asked. “On the other side of the ocean?” Arthur did not understand and continued to point at the sea saying, “Ma'ew!”

 

“Maybe we should go to the library now,” Jason suggested. “If Artie can show us where he comes from, we might find out where Matthew is. I can't believe he's still alive.” Neither could anyone else and everyone was eager to find Matthew and bring him home.

 

“Come on, Artie,” Alfred said, pulling Arthur away from the window and toward the door. “Show me where Matthew is!”

 

* * * * *

 

King Alex had the castle librarian pull out the biggest world map they had and it was laid out on the large table that dominated the empty space in the centre of the room. Alex, Jason, Alfred and Arthur stood around the table with Arthur confused about what they were doing. He had no idea what the floppy flat thing with all the wiggly markings on it was or what it was for, nor why everyone was looking at him.

 

“Artie,” Alfred called and Arthur turned to him. Alfred pointed to the map. “Where are you from?” Arthur looked at him in puzzlement. He had no idea what Alfred wanted from him or what the strange thing on the table was. Alfred gave a huff of exasperation and he pointed to everyone but Arthur in the room and pointed to a place on the map on a coast line marked 'Altheia' then he pointed to Arthur and gestured to the map. Arthur remained confused and he looked down at the map, trying to work out what it all meant so he could understand what Alfred wanted. He became fascinated with the map, looking over all the wiggly lines and markings but one marking made sense to Arthur. On a lot of the map were wavy lines and Arthur realised that these wavy lines were like waves and then everything else made sense. This was some kind of representation of the land and ocean. He looked back at Alfred who pointed to Arthur again and then gestured to the map.

 

 _He's asking where I come from_ Arthur realised and pointed to the wavy lines off the coast of Altheia. The others looked at him in confusion as to why he was pointing to the sea.

 

“No, Artie,” Alfred said. “That's the ocean. Where are you from?” Arthur continued to point at the wavy lines.

 

“This is getting us nowhere,” Alex stated and stared at Arthur. “Sir Artie, where is Matthew?” Arthur understood that they wanted to know where Matthew was, not by their words but, if his brother had been presumed dead and he found out he was still alive, Arthur would want to know where he was too, so Arthur once again pointed to the same wavy lines.

 

“What's he trying to say?” Jason was fed up with their lack of progress. Arthur kept pointing to the ocean on the map. Was he deliberately misleading them, building up their hopes that his long, lost cousin was alive, only to plunge them into heartbreaking disappointment but why would Artie do that? What would he get out of it?

 

“Arthur, that's water,” Alfred told him. “These areas are land.” Alfred pointed to the areas not marked with water lines but Arthur shook his head and pointed to the water area again.

 

“I don't think he knows how maps worked,” Jason said in frustration. “And he can't tell us where Matthew is. Maybe he could write it.”

 

“He doesn't speak our language,” Alex replied. “So I doubt he could write it. I think that's a dead end.” Alex had no idea how right he was. Not only would Arthur not be able to write the Altheian language, he would not even be able to write his own. Mers had no written language as it was hard to make markings underwater so they simply never developed one. No stories or history were ever recorded but past on through oral record and kept in the memories of the Jokers to be past on to the next Joker and they then collected the historical record of what happened during their lifetime, like living diaries. Joker Gilbert was particularly good at this.

 

“We have to know where Mattie is,” Alfred replied. He had spent almost his entire life believing his brother was dead and now they had been more or less told that Matthew was still alive but the one person who knew was unable to communicate his location.

 

Arthur knew that no one was understanding what he was trying to say but he could not really blame them. The land-dwellers had no conception of mers living in the ocean. They had become creatures of legend and myth on land and mers staying out of the way of land-dwellers had helped foster that notion. It was hard to explain about something that these people no longer believed in, especially when he did not speak land-dweller. But he found it upsetting that he could not give Al the information that he wanted to give and what Al wanted to receive.

 

He needed a translator, someone who could speak both mer and land-dweller but no such person existed. The few words Arthur had spoken, he had mangled, he knew he had. The only way to be able to tell Alfred what he clearly wanted to know was for him to become King but he could not communicate that either. It was all very frustrating for Alfred and for him.

 

* * * * *

 

By the time the remaining members of the Spadian royal pod reached Conclave, it was dark in the world above but Matthew and Yao needed the Jokers to find their missing Queen and they swam in the summoning circle and were about to send the summoning song when …..

 

“It took you long enough,” the Red Joker's voice sounded and they looked up to see both Jokers swimming above them and they drifted down to meet the Spadians royals.

 

“You knew we would be coming, aru?” Yao asked.

 

“Ja,” Gilbert replied. “You were bound to, with the Queen going missing.”

 

“You know?” Matthew said.

 

“Yep!” Peter replied. “We know exactly where the queen is, right now.”

 

“Where is Queen Arthur, aru?”

 

“On land,” Gilbert smirked.

 

“WHAT!” both royals exclaimed.

 

“Ja,” Gilbert continued. “Queen Arthur came to us and explained the situation concerning the newly found King of Spades and asked for our help. So we did the only thing we could, turned him into a land-dweller so he could go look for the king.”

 

“What?” Matthew gasped. “You can do that?! Why didn't he come and tell us about this?”

 

“I did say he should,” Gilbert replied. “But he thought you would stop him so he decided to just go but there is a....problem.” Both Yao and Matthew stared at the Jokers.

 

“What problem, aru?” Yao asked.

 

“Well,” Gilbert replied, slightly embarrassed. “I turned him into a land-dweller but unawesomely forgot to change his vocal cords. Which means he can't speak land-dweller.”

 

“Meaning,” Matthew surmised. “That Arthur is searching for the next King of Spades but unable to communicate with anyone on land.”

 

“That's about the long and short of it,” Peter replied. Matthew groaned.

 

“Where did he go on land?” he asked.

 

“Where he left the next king,” Gilbert replied. “Why?” Although Gilbert knew what Matthew was going to say next.

 

“Because you're going to change me into a land-dweller,” Matthew replied. “And then I'm going after Arthur!”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter : New arrivals in Altheia.....


	5. A Trip To Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's another surprise for the Royal Family and an act of kindness leads to a revelation....

 

_**Chapter 5 : A Trip To Town** _

 

Arthur and Alfred never went riding, after all. Arthur felt a little depressed after being unable to convey where Matthew was and Alfred spent the time trying to cheer him up so Alfred decided to take Arthur riding the next day, although it got off to a rocky start. Arthur eyed the four-legged beasts that Alfred called _Horses_ with a little wariness, never having seen such creatures before and, at first was afraid to approach them so Alfred selected a nice, quiet mare called Chestnut, because of her colour, for Arthur and put some oats into Arthur's hand and slowly guided Arthur toward the chestnut brown, docile animal, making Arthur hold out his hand to her. Arthur trembled slightly as the horse sniffed his hand and then began to nuzzle it to get as many of the oats as she could. Arthur began to relax when the creature did not harm him and when his hand was empty of oats, Alfred put Arthur's hand on the horse's nose and encouraged Arthur to rub it. The horse revelled in the attention and nuzzled Arthur's face, making the mer giggle.

 

The mare and Alfred's horse, a black stallion called Ignatius were taken out into the courtyard where Alfred faced his next challenge.....getting Arthur on to the mare's back so Alfred demonstrated.

 

“Artie,” he called and Arthur looked toward him. Alfred put his left foot into the stirrup and pulled himself up, swinging his leg over Ignatius's back and putting his right foot in the stirrup on the other side and sitting on the saddle and then he pointed to Arthur.

 

“Now you,” he said. Arthur looked at Alfred in shock and then at his horse. Alfred wanted him to sit on this creature's back. Why? Arthur was sure that the animal would not like it, he knew he would not if someone sat on his back so Arthur shook his head and patted Chestnut's neck. Alfred got down from his horse's back and came to Arthur's side to try and get him on the horse.

 

“Artie, come on,” he said, trying to get Arthur to put his foot in the stirrup and Arthur was struggling against him. “You have to get on the horse so we can get going. You still have to learn to ride!” But Arthur was having none of it, wriggling in Alfred's grip. Both losing their balance and falling to the ground, Alfred landing on top of Arthur.

 

Alfred took a moment to recover from the fall before pushing himself up a little on his hands to find himself staring down at Arthur, his hands on either side of Arthur's head and Arthur looking up at him in surprise. Then they became aware of their intimate position and they both blushed, Alfred getting off Arthur and to his feet with surprising reluctance. He helped Arthur up and began wiping the dust that had coated Arthur's blue riding jacket when he fell to the ground.

 

“You really don't want to ride?” Alfred asked Arthur who just looked back at him. Alfred looked over to the grooms in the stable. “Take the horses back to the stable and get the carriage ready.” Two grooms came forward to take the horses back to the stables and others went to get the carriage and the horses to pull it.

 

They had to wait awhile for the carriage to be prepared, a small one for two people and then they were off in the direction of the town, unaware of what was happening down at the beach.

 

* * * * *

 

“Are you sure about this, Matthew?” Yao asked as they gathered by the beach. It was very early and no land-dwellers were about so the royals had to do this quickly before they appeared. “We can't reach you if anything goes wrong, aru.”

 

“We need to find Arthur,” Matthew replied. “And I'm the only one with any kind of land-dweller knowledge, it has to be me. I've arranged with Warrior Lars to lead the guards to protect the palace and the city, he's very capable.”

 

“Matthew,” Yao said. “You were very young when you left the land-dweller world. Things have undoubtedly changed since then and you could run into problems, aru.”

 

“It has to be done, Yao,” Matthew replied. “We need Arthur back. If I find him, I might get lucky and find the king too.” He turned to the Jokers. “Let's do this.”

 

“Get yourself beached,” Gilbert ordered as Peter handed Matthew clothes, coming prepared this time and Matthew swam to the shoreline and pulled himself out of the water while Gilbert and Peter prepared to sing the song, giving them a feeling of de ja vu.

 

“We'll alter the song a little so your vocal cords can articulate the land-dweller language,” Gilbert called over to Matthew. “But you'll still be able to speak mer so you can communicate with Queen Arthur when you find him. Ready?” Matthew made himself comfortable on the sand.

 

“Ready!” he called back. Gilbert held up the sapphire and both he and Peter began to sing. Just like with Arthur, the sapphire produced the misty light that covered Matthew and he felt the tingling, his tail separating into two legs, his gills vanishing and his finger webbing disappearing. Matthew gazed at his hand just as Arthur had done, vaguely remembering his hands being like this once but very small and it was like a misty dream. Matthew struggled to his feet, wobbling a little as he tried to remember his balance, leaning against a rock until he was sure he could stand up without falling over.

 

“All right, Ace Matthew,” Peter called and Matthew began to turn to look at them when he realised that he was completely exposed and fell over in shock.

 

“Yes, I'm fine,” he called back over Gilbert's kesese laughter and scrambled into the clothes that Peter had given him. His voice sounded strange to the other mers now, although they could understand him, a side effect of the change in his vocal cords. When he was dressed, he stood up again and took a few steps to get used to being upright. He was still a little unsteady but he was getting better. “You better go, the land-dwellers will be about soon. I'll go and look for Arthur and I'll call for the Jokers when ready to come back.”

 

“Be careful, Matthew,” Yao replied. “We don't want to lose our Ace as well, aru.”

 

“We'll be waiting for your summoning song, Ace Matthew,” Gilbert said. “Good luck!” They began to swim away, Yao rather reluctantly and when they were out of sight, Matthew began to carefully walk up the beach. As he left the sand, he saw sights of the land-dweller settlement and began to walk in that direction.

 

* * * * *

 

A local fisherman was walking down toward the sea to begin his work when he saw a man walking toward him, a little unsteadily. He was wearing a white shirt and black breeches but had no shoes and as the fisherman got closer, he could see that the man was wet, his blonde hair slick against his head and, as he got closer still, he recognised the man.

 

“Your Highness,” he gasped and ran forward to help the Sea Prince. The fisherman had heard that Prince Alfred had been swept up by the tide, just a few days ago and now it looked like he had been in the sea again. Work would have to wait, he needed to get Prince Alfred back to the palace.

 

Matthew heard the land-dweller call to him but it took him a few minutes to remember land-dweller language and realised that this man had called him Your Highness and seemed to know him but how? He was four when he left life on land so no one here should know him at all. The man put Matthew's arm around his shoulders and put his own arm around Matthew's back and began to help Matthew toward town.

 

“Don't worry, Your Highness,” the man said. “I'll help you get back to the palace.” But there was only one thing Matthew really needed help for.

 

“Arthur,” he said, his land-dweller speech, rusty from lack of use. “Must find Arthur.”

 

* * * * *

 

Arthur's eyes could not stop darting about as the carriage drove into the land-dweller settlement, there was just to much to see. Land-dwellers strolled everywhere or stood and talked to each other. Land-dweller fingerlings ran around playing, either with each other or with fluffy four-legged animals that enjoyed the pats and stroking that were bestowed on them. Others walked around carrying things that held items like lumps of brown things or round things of greens or reds or long things of orange with green seaweed like stuff coming out of the top of them. One carried a tray with red lumps with coatings of white on them that Arthur thought did not look particularly appealing.

 

Arthur noticed something else that confused him, somewhat. While not an expert on land-dweller couture, Arthur noticed the difference in the coverings on different land-dwellers, some wearing coverings that seemed to be like the ones he was wearing but others wore things that looked more coarse but what confused Arthur the most were the land-dwellers sat in corners, the coverings in tatters, their hands raised toward passing land-dwellers as if asking for something and ignored by most of the by-passers.

 

Alfred saw them as well and his face saddened. He tried to do what he could to relieve the suffering of the poor with soup kitchens and such and many nobles pretended to show interest in his causes but he knew that, privately, a lot of them sneered behind his back for wanting to assist, what they considered to be, the refuse of their society and saw the beggars as a problem, not to be solved but to be swept off the streets. Alfred turned to look at Arthur, praying he did not see a look of disgust on his face but was surprised to see a look of puzzlement, as if Arthur did not understand what he was seeing. Like he had never seen a beggar before. Alfred was further intrigued by the mystery that was Arthur.....just where was he from that these things were so foreign to him, even poverty?

 

Alfred stopped the carriage by the local stables and he was greeted by the stable owner like an old friend who agreed to look after the carriage while Alfred took Arthur around the town and they walked to the market square where many stalls selling many things were set up and, once again, Arthur was entranced by the many different things on display but was distracted when Alfred was surrounded by the village children who were well acquainted with the prince and loved to see him. Arthur smiled at Al as he greeted the children with genuine warmth and seemed to know all their names.

 

“Okay, kids,” Alfred said to the children. “I have to go now. I came to show my new friend, Artie around the village.” Arthur found himself with all the young eyes on him and he gave a nervous smile, at a loss as to why all these young fingerlings were looking at him and a young, blonde female child with eyes like Alfred's ran up to him.

 

“Are you Alfie's new friend?” she asked. Arthur did not understand her and looked up at Alfred with a slightly panicked look on his face.

 

“Amelia,” Alfred came to Arthur's rescue. “Artie doesn't understand our language and we don't understand his so he can't answer you but yes, he's my new friend.” Amelia nodded and turned back to Arthur and held out her little hand and tapped her chest.

 

“Amelia,” she said. “Amelia.”

 

“Am'el'a,” Arthur tried, holding out his own hand which Amelia grabbed and shook up and down.

 

“Close enough,” she said and the other children came forward to tell Arthur their names and to hear how Arthur said them, laughing at some of his more unusual attempts. Arthur smiled at the idea that children, both mer and land-dweller, behaved the same and had the same curiosity with new things. Perhaps mers and land-dwellers were not so different.

 

“Okay, kids,” Alfred called out. “I want to show Arthur around so it's time to go. Sorry!” The children groaned in disappointment at having their new toy taken away. “I'll bring him back another time if I can but we have to go now.” He held out his hand to Arthur and pulled him out of the gaggle of children. Alfred told the kids goodbye and both he and Arthur waved at the children as they left. Alfred's interaction with the children told Arthur he was a caring and compassionate person and Arthur knew that Alfred would be a wonderful king as they moved toward the market stalls.

 

* * * * *

 

“Please, I need help,” the fisherman shouted as he neared the castle gate. When they saw who he was assisting, the guards ran forward and took Matthew from him and began to take him to the castle while one turned to the fisherman.

 

“What happened?” he asked. The fisherman shook his head.

 

“I don't know,” he replied. “I was on my way to begin working when I found the prince. He didn't tell me how he got there or in that state. He just said 'Must find Arthur'.” The soldier frowned. Arthur? Did he mean Sir Artie, the man Prince Alfred had found on the beach? Speaking of which, where was Sir Artie? Prince Alfred had left with him.

 

“Did you see any sign of another man?” the guard asked. “A blonde man with green eyes?” The fisherman shook his head.

 

“I saw no one else,” he replied. The guard nodded.

 

“Thank you,” he said. “The King will hear of your assistance.” The fisherman nodded and walked away while the guard wondered about what happened to Prince Alfred and where was Sir Artie.”

 

* * * * *

 

Jason was walking toward the main doors when they were opened and two guards came through, supporting another man, blonde and dressed only in black trousers and a white shirt and, from this distance, looked like Alfred and he ran forward.

 

“What happened?” he demanded but, as he got closer, he realised something was wrong. Despite being wet and bedraggled, Jason could see that the man's hair was longer and when the man looked at him, it was not with Alfred's sky blue eyes and Jason knew instinctively that this man was not Alfred.

 

“What's going on?” Jason heard his father's voice as King Alex walked up behind him to see what the commotion was about. “Alfred, what happened to …..” Jason put his hand on his father's chest.

 

“Dad,” he said. “That's not Alfred.” Alex looked toward the man the guard were holding up and realised that Jason was right but he looked so much like Alfred. Who was he? Alex approached the familiar looking stranger, taking in every detail, the different hair, the way the stranger held himself, his gaze lacking the bold and sometimes over confident look that Alfred possessed, the violet eyes....

 

_Violet eyes!_

 

It could not be! It would be too much of a coincidence for him to turn up, just after they learnt of his continued existence but …... maybe ….... given that Sir Artie knew him ….. was it possible?

 

“Matthew?” he said the name carefully, as if afraid the atmosphere might shatter and destroy the fragile hope that he might be right. There was only one way to prove it.

 

Matthew found the two men in the fine clothes familiar and he racked his brain as to why. They were land-dwellers, not mers and he had not seen any land-dwellers since he was four. The older land-dweller was more familiar and he had vague memories of a man that used to carry him on his shoulders and tuck both he and Alfred into bed at night as children, a man he called …..

 

“Father?” he asked but that could not be right. His father was dead, he had vague memories of clinging to someone who looked like this man when the mers found him but there was another man, a man who looked like his father, his father's brother and he was called...…

 

“Uncle Alex?”

 

King Alex's breath had caught in his throat when Matthew? called him Father and then Uncle Alex. Matthew was four when he was lost so it was possible for him to mistake Alex for his father Allan but there was only one way to confirm everything. He went closer to the man, reached for his shirt, unbuttoned it and pulled it to the left. There, above the man's heart was the symbol identical to Alfred's but it was a spade surrounding an A, rather than a K, eliminating all doubt.

 

“Matthew!” he exclaimed, wrapping his arms around his newly recovered nephew. “My dear boy, you really are alive!” The King's eyes filled with joyful tears that another part of his beloved twin brother had survived and was back with them. If he was the superstitious sort, he would think that Sir Artie was some kind of good luck charm. First he reveals that Matthew was alive and he knew him and the next day, Matthew turns up.

 

“Dad?” Jason asked, questioningly. “Is that really Matthew?”

 

“Without a doubt,” Alex replied, releasing Matthew. “Your cousin has come home, Jason!” Jason could not believe it. They had only just heard Matthew was alive yesterday and now he stood before them and he looked at the man his father had just hugged. The blonde hair was a little longer and the eyes violet but he really, really looked like …..

 

“He's the image of Alfie,” he said. What Jason remembered of Matthew was of a little, quiet boy who trailed after Alfie and it was hard to tell the two apart, only Alfie's boisterous personality was the way to tell who was who.

 

“Well, they are twins,” Alex replied. “It's really not that surprising.”

 

“Al's alive?!” Matthew blurted as he realised that they were speaking of Alfred in the present tense, as if he would walk through the door at any minute. Alex smiled and put comforting hands on Matthew's shoulders. Poor boy had clearly thought that his brother was dead, just as they had thought Matthew was.

 

“Of course, he's alive, my boy,” he smiled and then he realised. “We need to get him back here, he needs to know you're here.” He turned to the guards. “Send a messenger to the town. Tell Prince Alfred that he needs to come back now.” He took Matthew from the guards so they could do their appointed task and he would take Matthew to be taken care of before something occurred to him. “Don't tell him why! Let's keep this as a surprise. Just tell him its important.”

 

As Matthew was hustled away by his uncle and cousin, he felt overwhelmed. He had not even found Arthur yet but, within the space of a couple of hours of leaving the water, he had found his land-dweller family and discovered that his twin was still alive! Not what he expected when he stepped on land but welcome.

 

“Now my boy,” Alex said as he and Jason took him further into the castle. “We'll get you all cleaned up and properly attired, some of Alfie's things should fit you and you can tell us where you've been all this time and how you came back. In fact, we need to have a party! A big celebration to welcome back the Lost Prince of Altheia.” That cast a shadow over Matthew's joy at discovering his family again. How was he going to explain that he was just here to find the Queen of Spades, and the King if he was lucky, but then he would have to leave again. How was he going to break the news that he could not stay!

 

* * * * *

 

The messenger mounted his horse and set off on his task to bring Prince Alfred and Sir Artie back to the castle, galloping toward the town, not seeing the ship appearing out at sea on the horizon.

 

* * * * *

 

While Alfred had been to the town many times and knew every part of it by heart, there was something about showing it to someone who was seeing it for the first time made him see it in the same way. Arthur looked around with a child's excitement at everything but one thing that Alfred noticed was that Arthur was not necessarily attracted to things because of value but rather to things that just caught his eye, pretty but sometimes inexpensive things, one thing being a case in point.

 

They had passed the jewellers and Arthur stopped to stare at a ring with a blue stone that was meant to imitate a sapphire but was pure paste. Alfred got the feeling that Arthur was attracted to the colour of the stone (Arthur was always distracted by blue things, the colour seemed to mean something to him) and the ring was pretty enough but it was not especially valuable, it was not even gold but Arthur looked at it like it was the most priceless thing imaginable.

 

“Do you want it, Artie?” Alfred asked and Arthur turned and looked at him in puzzlement. Alfred smiled and took Arthur's hand to pull him into the shop. The jeweller smiled at his royal customer but was disappointed that he was looking at, what was essentially, costume jewellery and tried to steer them toward jewellery that was more real and more expensive but Arthur had his eye on the ring so nothing else would do and they left with the ring that Alfred had put on Arthur's finger because he did not seem to realise that that was where it went. Whether the fact that Alfred had placed it on the third finger of Arthur's left hand was a conscious or subconscious decision was anyone's guess.

 

Arthur could not stop looking at the round thing that Alfred had got from the land-dweller in the building that was filled with these yellow things with shiny stones. Some of the things were whitish-grey but still had stones stuck on them and the land-dweller tried to show them to he and Alfred but Arthur like the one with the blue stone, it was the shade of the stone that Gilbert used to send him here and Alfred said something to the land-dweller who went to get the round thing and brought it to them and Alfred handed it to Arthur who held it between his finger and his thumb, turning it to see it from every angle while Alfred looked at him like he expected Arthur to do something. After a minute, Alfred took the ring from Arthur, took hold of Arthur's left hand and put his third finger in the hoop and pushed it up over his knuckle as far as he could. Arthur smiled and looked up to see Alfred digging into a little bag and pulling out some reddish-brown disks and gave them to the land-dweller who bowed and Alfred ushered Arthur out of the building.

 

The giving of the little disks confused Arthur but, as he and Alfred went to other places and Alfred collected other things, giving the land-dwellers displaying them some more of the disks, some reddish-brown, some whitish-grey and some yellow. Alfred gave Arthur a little bag of coins of his own to purchase anything he wanted and tried to teach Arthur the difference in the value of the coins and Arthur began to understand a little. Alfred was trading the disks for the items but Arthur wondered what use the disks were to anyone. Arthur understood trade, Spades traded with the other kingdoms regularly but it was for useful things that one kingdom possessed that others did not and the other kingdoms would swap for useful items that their kingdom had that the other kingdom wanted but this was for necessary and useful things and Arthur could not fathom what use small disks could be.

 

Having made that connection, Arthur made another one as to why the land-dwellers seemed to differ from each other. Those land-dwellers dressed in finery had many of these disks, those displaying things to trade for these disks were trying to acquire them and those dressed in rags had none and no means to acquire them other than to ask by-passers for them.

 

This inequality of resources was something that Arthur did not understand. In Spades, in fact in all four kingdoms, everyone had a task, hunting, gathering, maintaining the city, looking after the young, guarding the city, defending the kingdom and, of course, his own task as Queen, seeing to the smooth running of the kingdom, along with the Jack and, traditionally, the king while the Ace commanded the guards and saw to the security of the city and the palace. The hunters and gatherers caught enough fish and collected enough seaweed, plankton and shellfish to feed the population, the maintainers effected repairs to everyone's dwellings as they happened, which was surprisingly frequently, the carers looked after everyone's young as their parents worked at their tasks, the guards defended everyone from the predators of the mers, like sharks and the occasional octopus and the warriors guarded the kingdom from attack. Everyone did their part and everyone benefited from the fruits of their labours and no one needed to trade for essentials and no one had less than anyone else. Even the royals received the same as any other citizen of Spades for their contribution to the kingdom.

 

The idea of some having more than others was a foreign concept to Arthur, mers did not have a monetary system so nothing really had a value beyond its usefulness or sentimental value. Mers collected trinkets but a pretty stone found and given to a loved one was worth more than a valuable land-dweller diamond to a mer....if they knew what a diamond was. Arthur was still trying to get his head around all of this when …..

 

_“Oh! How nice meeting you here, Your Highness!”_

 

Arthur cringed at the sound, it was almost on par with a mer's battle cry and both Alfred and Arthur turned to see a woman dressed in the finest, strolling determinedly toward them. Behind her, a young girl, dressed in less fine clothes, burdened down with parcels, was rushing to keep up. Alfred groaned. Lady Cassell was a shameless suck-up to the royal family and an unmitigated snob to anyone she considered beneath her and Alfred could not stand the woman, feeling sorry for the poor maid, running around after her under a mountain of purchases while her mistress sneered at the townspeople. Everything Alfred hated.

 

“I never expected to find you here, Your Highness,” she simpered and Arthur took an immediate dislike to the woman. Not that he could understand a word she was saying but there was a tone in her voice that was weaselling and insincere. He did not like her at all.

 

“I'm just showing my new acquaintance around the town,” Alfred replied. “Lady Cassell, this is Sir Artie.” Arthur smiled at the woman who gave him a snooty look before returning her gaze to Alfred.

 

“Oh yes,” she sniffed. “I heard about the castaway, swept up on the beach. I understand he doesn't speak the language. You should be more careful, Your Highness, he could be anyone or anything. I mean, how do you know this man isn't a criminal?”

 

Alfred did not appreciate her observations of Arthur and he certainly did not appreciate her talking about Arthur like he was not there. Alfred did not care that Arthur could not understand her, it was still rude.

 

“I'm confident that Sir Artie is no such person,” he replied, putting a friendly hand on Arthur's shoulder and smiled at him and Arthur smiled back.

 

“Perhaps not,” Lady Cassell huffed. “But you don't know his position in society. It would not do to take in some vagabond.” She sneered at a point behind them and Arthur turned to look, seeing a bedraggled brunette female in ragged clothing and carrying a bundle, holding out her hand at passing strangers, calling out something Arthur did not understand. Alfred saw that too.

 

“People on hard times need our compassion, not our condemnation,” he scolded and Lady Cassell realised that she was crossing a line with Alfred.

 

“Of course,” she simpered. “We must do something for the poor unfortunate souls.” 'Poor unfortunate souls' had a hint of patronisation about it and Alfred did not see Arthur wandering over to the female beggar as he tried to extract himself from the sycophantic snob.

 

* * * * *

 

Arthur kept looking at the woman on the corner, holding out her hand to people passing, everyone ignoring her and he wandered over to her. She saw him coming and turned toward him with her hand held out and he could see that the bundle she was holding were coverings wrapped around a fingerling, a very young fingerling, less than one season old. The child was crying and the mother bounced it up and down to try and settle it but the child continued to cry and Arthur knew why. The child was sick, he could hear in the child's cry and the, he assumed mother, was not well either and Arthur wondered why. A mer would always heal another mer if one was sick or injured so why was this female and child being allowed to suffer?

 

“Please, sir,” the woman begged. “A coin for the child, I beg you.” Arthur cocked his head at her, not understanding her words. He looked at the crying child and then looked back at the woman before kneeling in front of her and taking out the little bag of disks that Alfred had given him. He did not need to trade them for anything as, when he returned to Spades, he would not be taking them with him, except for the ring. He would be keeping that, Al gave it to him.

 

Arthur placed the little bag in the woman's hand and she marvelled at the bag that would contain enough money to feed her and her child for many days and smiled at her benefactor. Arthur smiled back at her but he could not leave it like this. No mer would leave anyone to suffer so he placed a hand on her and the baby's cheek and opened his mouth.

 

* * * * *

 

“Since you're feeling so charitable,” Alfred said to Lady Cassell. “Perhaps you would care to make a donation to the poor fund? Every coin is welcome.” Lady Cassell smiled, tightly.

 

“Of course, Your Highness,” she muttered with insincerity. “I would like to help the poor.” Alfred, however, knew that no such donation would materialise or she would donate the minimum she could.

 

“I'm happy to hear that,” Alfred replied, happy to make her uncomfortable after all her sucking up. Then she looked over his shoulder and saw something that she disapproved of.

 

“I think you need to teach your …..acquaintance,” she sniffed. “That, while compassion is all well and good, it does not do to befriend all and sundry.” Alfred turned to see Arthur kneeling by the woman and child that Lady Cassell had sneered at earlier. Arthur was giving the woman the bag of money that he had given Arthur earlier and he smiled as he watched Arthur put a hand on the woman and the child before opening his mouth.

 

Then everything seemed to stop as the most beautiful singing filled the air, even Lady Cassell was entranced and everyone in the street turned to listen, mesmerized and no one dared breathe for fear of ruining the atmosphere but Alfred just froze on the spot and was transported back to that morning on the beach when he awoke after the storm with someone singing above him.

 

_I was right! It was Artie who saved me!_

 

* * * * *

 

Arthur sang his healing song and he could feel the sickness ease in both woman and child as he continued to sing, his song weaving into the female and baby, driving out what was making them sick and the child began to settle, crying less and began looking at Arthur, soothed by the singing even as it made the baby well again. The mother was staring at Arthur as well, enchanted by the beautiful singing. As the last of the sickness left both mother and child, Arthur's last note sounded and vanished into the air. The woman did not know how but she knew that the singing of the man in front of her had healed her and her baby of their sickness.

 

“Thank you,” she whispered. Arthur did not know what she had said but he guessed and smiled at her and stroked the baby's head before standing up and, with one last smile, turned to return to Alfred, only to find him standing behind him.

 

“It was you!” he said. “It was you that saved me from the shipwreck! Why didn't you stay?” Arthur just cocked his head at Alfred in that 'I don't know what you just said' way of his. Alfred took Arthur's face in his hands.

 

“It _was_ you!” he whispered and moved forward. He did not know if he was going too far, nor did he care so he placed his lips over Arthur's, pressing softly against them. At first, Arthur froze at Alfred's sudden kiss but then he melted into it and Alfred put his arms around Arthur and pulled him close, not caring that the snooty Lady Cassell and the entire town were watching as they were locked into their own little world and Arthur was lost in bliss. He had fallen in love with Alfred, almost from the moment he pulled him from the sea and now he knew that Alfred just might feel the same about him. This was his King and he would be Alfred's queen, it was fated.

 

Alfred held Arthur tight as they kissed, his heart leaping as Arthur responded to him. Arthur liked him too and Alfred could not be happier. Alfred had not given the idea of marrying Princess Erica for an alliance between Altheia and Mertoris any thought and any idea of it now flew over the horizon. He only wanted Arthur, he was the only one for Alfred now.

 

He pulled away and did not know that many townspeople were smiling at them, except for Lady Cassell who looked faintly disgusted, whether it was because they were two men or that she suspected Arthur of being of lowly status and, therefore beneath the prince, was up for debate but Arthur and Alfred were still lost in their little bubble.

 

Until the sound of galloping interrupted and everyone turned to see a man in castle livery come riding into the market place and stop when he spotted Alfred and Arthur and jumped down from his horse, running to the two men.

 

“Prince Alfred,” he said, bowing. “Apologies for interrupting your day but King Alex sent me to request that you return to the castle. It is a matter of some urgency, I understand.” Alfred frowned, what could have happened while he and Artie were away?

 

* * * * *

 

The carriage rode into the castle courtyard and Alfred helped Arthur down before the two of them hurried into the castle and made their way to the King's study. Alfred knocked on the door before he opened it and walked in.

 

“What's wrong, Uncle Alex?” he asked urgently. “What's happene.....?” he stopped when he found he was looking at a mirror image of himself but with longer hair and violet eyes who seemed to be wearing some of his clothes. The mirror image looked just as surprised as him but then he step forward.

 

“Alfie?” he asked, as if unsure of what he was seeing. “Alfie, is that you?” Alfred stood there, not knowing who this man was but feeling like he should.

 

“Ma'ew?” Arthur said, coming in after Alfred and spotting Matthew stood beside Alex and Jason. Alfred looked at Arthur and then back at Matthew.

 

“Matthew?” he said. Matthew became bright-eyed and took another step. And then another. Alfred step forward too and then they both move forward into a brotherly hug.

 

“I thought you were dead,” Alfred whispered, hoarsely, barely believing that it was Matthew he was hugging. “I thought I lost you and Dad.”

 

“I thought I'd lost you too, Al,” Matthew replied, holding on to his twin brother like he would vanish if he let go. “I can't believe you're alive.”

 

“ _Ma'ew,_ _ **whistle**_ _chirp ack eek at?(Matthew, what are you doing here?)”_ Arthur asked.

 

“ _Chee at ack, (Looking for you)”_ Matthew replied and the rest of the Altheian royals turned to look at him.

 

“Matthew, can you understand Sir Artie's language?” Jason asked.

 

“Sir Artie?” Matthew said with a hint of mirth. “Yes, I can understand Mer. Arthur was asking why I was here.”

 

“Mer?” Alfred asked. “What's Mer?”

 

“Arthur's a mer,” Matthew replied. “And he speaks mer.”

 

“Arthur? Is that his actual name?” Alex asked.

 

“Yes,” Matthew replied. “How did you meet him?”

 

“Arthur saved me from drowning,” Alfred said and looked at his uncle and cousin. “I know it for a fact now, I heard him sing.”

 

“You're the one Arthur saved!” Matthew gasped. Arthur said he had rescued the next King of Spades but if it was Al he pulled from the water, that meant....“Oh, this makes so much sense, us being twins and all but I thought you were dead so the possibility never occurred to me.”

 

“Possibility of what, Matthew?” Alfred asked. “And who exactly is Artie and how did he become connected to you?” Matthew sighed.

 

“It's a long story, Al,” he replied. “The truth is that Arthur is …...” Matthew was interrupted by a knock on the door. King Alex gave an exasperated huff and called 'Come in' and a butler entered.

 

“Whatever it is,” King Alex said. “It will have to wait.” The butler bowed in regret.

 

“My apologies, Your Majesty,” he replied. “But we have a guest …..” The butler was suddenly knocked aside as Princess Erica swept into the room without waiting for an introduction.

 

“Prince Alfred!” she exclaimed. “I made it here at last, now we can finally be married!” Everyone in the room watched with shock as Erica came forward to embrace Prince Alfred.

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alfred has few things to face when his destiny comes to light …..


	6. Destiny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred learns his destiny and Erica feels challenged …..

 

_**Chapter 6 : Destiny** _

 

Princess Erica had been fidgety as the ship docked in the Altheian harbour, eager to be off the ship and on her way to the castle where, she was sure her prince was waiting for her. The gangplank came down and her manservant immediately went to hire a carriage for her use while she and her entourage waited on the dock, Princess Erica with ill-concealed impatience until the carriage arrived. It was not up to her standards but the best her manservant could procure on such short notice so it would have to do but she made her displeasure known throughout the journey to the castle.

 

Her manservant sighed. He really hated his mistress when she was in one of her 'everything must be just so' moods, she was impossible and, the servant had to admit, somewhat unstable. He pitied the Sea Prince of Altheia who was clearly in her sights and the manservant had liked the prince. Cheerful, friendly, a little loud and energetic at times but a pleasure to be around. Too good for the spoilt and, he suspected insane, Princess of Mertoris.

 

The carriage pulled into the courtyard, after being stopped by the guards but allowed through when the identity of its passenger was revealed, and they climbed down from the carriage to be greeted by the castle butler who had been informed of the Princess arrival by a guard who ridden ahead to warn the castle.

 

“Greetings, Your Royal Highness,” the butler, a black-haired, middle-aged man with a no nonsense countenance greeted with a bow. “Your arrival is unexpected but welcome.” A lie but he did not know that yet because he did not know her personality. He would soon learn that she was far from welcome.

 

“Yes, yes,” she huffed. She had no time to dally with the servants, she had to find her prince. “Where is Prince Alfred? Take me to him immediately.” The butler blinked at the Princess's bluntness.

 

“This way, Your Royal Highness,” and they walked into the castle.

 

“If I may, Your Royal Highness,” the butler said. “Perhaps I should show you to your rooms first? The prince is currently with the King, discussing an important family development which I'm sure the King would not wished to be disturbed. I'm sure the prince will be happy to meet with you after.....”

 

“My good man,” Princess Erica huffed, the word _good_ said like she thought he was nothing of the sort. “I have journeyed across the sea to see Prince Alfred and I am impatience to do so. I will do nothing else until I do see him.”

 

“Ah,” the butler replied. “But you see, Your Royal Highness, the matter in question ….”

 

“Does _not_ matter,” she interrupted. “And servants who disobey and argue with me are punished in Mertoris.” The butler was highly tempted to say the they were not in Mertoris but he had to be diplomatic and he was wary of that gleam in her eyes and the way they widened, giving her a mad look.

 

“I'll will see if King Alex and Prince Alfred can see you, Your Royal Highness,” he bowed. “In the meantime, the servants will see to your comfort.” He indicated to the surrounding servants who jumped to attend the visiting royalty while he left to run his own errand. Princess Erica seethed at politely being told to wait and began to follow the butler.

 

Having no idea that the Princess was following him, the butler sighed. He did not want to disturb the royal family right now as they spent time with the newly found Prince Matthew. The news had swept the castle of the discovery of Prince Alfred's twin brother and everyone was in buoyant spirits and it was something that the butler did not want to bring down but he had the feeling that Princess Erica was about to sour the mood.

 

He stopped outside the King's Study, took a deep breath and knocked, entering when he heard the King shout 'Come in'. Reluctantly, the butler opened the door to see the royal family and Sir Artie standing together.

 

“Whatever it is, it will have to wait,” King Alex said and the butler bowed in regret.

 

“My apologies,” the butler replied, wishing he was not interrupting on behalf of this rude foreign royal. “But we have a guest …..” He was almost knocked to the floor as Princess Erica barged past him and rushed toward the Altheian Royals like an excited child.

 

“Prince Alfred,” she exclaimed, heading for the blonde royal stood beside King Alex and an younger man resembling him, paying no attention to the other men in the room. “I made it here at last, now we can finally be married!” She swept Alfred up in her arms and hugged him tight.... too tight.

 

“Er, I'm not Alfred,” said 'Alfred'. Erica looked up at 'Alfred' to see violet eyes staring down at her with the curling hair strand between them and she pushed him away.

 

“Who are you?” she demanded. “How dare you impersonate Prince Alfred?” Matthew looked over at Alfred.

 

“Alfred,” he said. “Who is this?”

 

“Princess Erica, what are you doing here?” Alfred asked, stunned to see her and she turned toward the other two men in the room. Arthur did not know this female nor what she was saying but she shocked him with the lack of respectful greeting shown to the royals of this kingdom, to say nothing of making him nervous and he laced his fingers between Alfred's. The moment she saw Alfred, she moved toward him but Arthur stepped in front.

 

“Who are you?” she demanded. “Step aside!” Arthur did not understand her but would have ignored her anyway and he looked over her shoulder at Matthew.

 

“ _Ma'ew, eek chirp '_ _ **peep**_ _'?_ _(Matthew, who is this?)_ ” Arthur asked.

 

“ _'_ _ **Whistle**_ _' Erica ack-ack,(Princess Erica, apparently)_ ,” Matthew replied and turned to his uncle. “Who is Princess Erica?”

 

“Yes, perhaps it's time for proper introduction and greeting,” Alex replied, looking pointedly at Princess Erica who did not seem to notice. “Princess Erica, I am King Alexander and this is my son, Crowned Prince Jason and this is Prince Matthew of Altheia, Prince Alfred's twin brother. Matthew, this, it would appear, is Princess Erica of Mertoris, sister of King Voss.” Matthew and Jason bowed to the Princess and then Matthew translated for Arthur so he understood what was being said.

 

“An honour to meet you, Your Royal Highness,” Matthew said and everyone waited for her response.

 

“Impossible,” she snorted, making everyone's jaw drop with her bluntness. (except for Arthur who did not understand her because Matthew had been shocked into silence but understood that she had said something untoward by everyone else's reaction). “Alfred said his brother was dead.”

 

“It appears we were wrong,” Alex replied. “We were made aware of his still being alive by Sir Arthur. Sir Arthur also saved Prince Alfred from drowning when his ship floundered on the journey home from your kingdom.”

 

“Yes, well,” she replied, listening to Matthew translate to Arthur, spotting Arthur and Alfred's entwined fingers and looking like she would like to rip Arthur's fingers off. “I'm surprised he could do such a thing when he can't even talk properly.” Both Alfred and Matthew stiffened and there was no way Matthew was going to tell Arthur what she said.

 

“Arthur can speak,” Matthew replied, tersely. “He just doesn't speak in your tongue. And, just for the record, Arthur is Spadian Royalty.” Everyone turned to look when Matthew said that and turned to look at Arthur.

 

“Artie's royal?!” Alfred was excited about that fact, If he had to marry, Alfred wanted it to be Arthur and the possibility of an alliance with another kingdom could make that happen but it could depend on whether or not Artie needed to produce an heir.

 

“Arthur's one of the four co-rulers of Spades,” Matthew replied.

 

“Spades?” Jason asked. “I've never heard of it. Where is it?”

 

“It's not a kingdom that's easy to get to,” Matthew replied. “And it's where I've been for the past sixteen years. In fact, we need to discuss that and it affects Alfred too.” Arthur nudged Matthew and he realised that Arthur had been without translation for some time so Matthew brought him back up to speed.

 

“Very well,” Alex said. “We will hear all about it in private. Your Royal Highness, I'm sure you'll forgive us for a while.” King Alex nodded his head to the butler who had been standing patiently, waiting for instruction. “Please show Princess Erica to her rooms.”

 

“But....,” she began as the butler bowed to her.

 

“This way, Your Royal Highness,” he said and, with ill-grace, she reluctantly followed the butler out of the room but Arthur did not miss the dark look she shot at him and realised that she was going to be a problem. When she was gone, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

 

“I'm sorry, Alfred,” Alex said. “For even thinking of arranging a marriage between the two of you. Good Lord, her manners! I had no idea she was so rude.”

 

“Neither did I,” Alfred replied. “I wasn't left alone with her much when I was in Mertoris, her brother always seemed to be around, chaperoning us. I just thought King Voss was protecting his sister, now I wonder.” Matthew turned to his Uncle after translating for Arthur who did not look pleased at all.

 

“Did you say you were trying to arrange a marriage for Alfred with her. Uncle Alex?” Matthew asked.

 

“I thought it would be a beneficial alliance,” Alex replied and looked at the door. “Now I'm not so sure.”

 

“You can't,” Matthew said. “Alfred's destiny lies in another direction. Arthur came here looking for Alfred after he realised just who it was he had saved.”

 

“What do you mean, who it was he saved,” Jason asked.

 

“For some time we've been missing a member of our royal pod,” Matthew replied. “Arthur was looking for Alfred because he's the next King of Spades.”

 

* * * * *

 

Erica paced the bedchamber of the rooms she had been escorted to and fumed. It was not the chambers that she had issue with, she had been given the finest royal guest apartments in the castle. No, it was the fact that she had been dismissed from the King's Study, excluded from the discussion concerning Alfred. This was supposed to be all about her and Alfred but Alfred was distracted by his twin returning from the dead and who exactly was this Sir Arthur? She had not like the way he and Alfred had been holding hands nor how the man had gotten between them when she tried to go to Alfred.

 

Was Sir Arthur after her Alfred? But their kingdoms were planning an alliance so Alfred would be hers. All Sir Artie's efforts were doomed to failure but, nevertheless, she would keep an eye on Sir Arthur and act if she must.

 

Alfred would be hers!

 

* * * * *

 

Back in the study, Matthew was trying to think of how to tell his uncle, cousin and brother the truth about Alfred, Arthur and, indeed, himself. How to explain that Arthur was actually a merman, he had become a merman and Alfred was destined to be one. Mermen and Mermaids were a myth on land, had been when Matthew became one and he was not sure he could convince his family that they were real.

 

“Okay, Matthew,” Alex said. “What do you mean Alfred is the next King of Spades and where is this Spades? Why have we never heard of it?” After translating for Arthur, Matthew took a deep breath.

 

“Spades is one of the four kingdoms of Cards,” he began. “The others are Diamonds, Hearts and Clubs and the royal positions are King, Queen, Jack and Ace. The positions are not hereditary, they're chosen by a mark the next royals are born with.” Matthew told Arthur what he had said as Alfred put his hand over his heart and looked at Arthur and Matthew.

 

“We all have a mark,” he said.

 

“What, Artie has a mark too?” Jason asked. Matthew translated for Arthur who nodded. “So if Alfred is the King of Spades, You, Matthew are …..?”

 

“The Ace,” Matthew replied. “The Jack is still in Spades. Arthur is the Queen.” Arthur found himself the focus of everyone's attention while Matthew translated into Mer.

 

“Arthur's a Queen?” Alfred asked. “But he's male!”

 

“The positions of King, Queen, Jack and Ace are not social positions,” Matthew replied. “Each position has its own responsibilities for the running of the kingdom and can be any gender, nor do the King and Queen have to be married. The Queen of Hearts is male and the King of Hearts is betrothed to his Jack.” Alfred was determined that he would be married to his Queen as he put his arm around Arthur and pulled him into his side but he had a question.

 

“Where actually is Spades?” he asked. Matthew braced himself.

 

“It's at the bottom of the ocean,” he replied. Everyone just stared at Matthew.

 

“It's …...where?” King Alex was not sure he had heard that right.

 

“It's at the bottom of the ocean,” Matthew repeated.

 

“Do you mean,” Jason asked. “It's under the ocean floor?” Matthew pinched the bridge of his nose and took another deep breath.

 

“No, “ he said. “It's on the sea bed.”

 

“Sooo..,” Alfred said, slowly, uncomfortable with where this was going and hoping Matthew was having him on. “You're saying that you've been underwater all this time and that Arthur is from there too. What, are you mermen or something?” Matthew translated to Arthur who nodded and said, “ _Ack, eek tch._ ”

 

“Arthur said Yes, we are,” Matthew translated. “Arthur was born a merman and I became one.”

 

“Come on, Mattie,” Jason laughed, thinking that Matthew was playing a joke. “The mer people are just legends. They're a myth.” Matthew shook his head, translated to Arthur who clucked his tongue in a tone of annoyance.

 

“The mers are very real,” Matthew said. “But we avoid land-dwellers as much as possible so you don't think we exist any more.” King Alex had a look of realisation.

 

“That's why Sir...Queen Arthur kept pointing to the ocean on the map when we asked him to show us where he came from,” he muttered.

 

“And why he had no idea fire could hurt him,” Alfred replied, remembering how Arthur had reached for the fire in the fireplace. “He wouldn't know what fire was. I'm getting blown away by this!”

 

“I thought mer people had fish-like tails,” Jason commented. “Or is that a myth?” Matthew repeated in Mer to Arthur who shook his head.

 

“It's not a myth,” Matthew replied. “But there are two mers we call the Jokers who maintain the balance between the four kingdoms and they possessed the magic to change Arthur and I into land-dwellers. Arthur, so he could find Alfred and I came looking for Arthur. He came here without telling the rest of the pod and the Jokers sent me after him.” He gave Arthur a disapproving look and told him in Mer speech that they would be having a talk about his sudden disappearance from the Coral Palace and Arthur had the decency to look sheepish.

 

“Did the Jokers turn you into a mer?” Alfred asked and Matthew shook his head.

 

“It's rare for land-dwellers to be chosen as royals,” he said. “But when they do, there's only one way for them to become mers.” Matthew looked like he was going to continue but then he looked uncomfortable.

 

“How?” Alfred asked, having a bad feeling about all this. Matthew bit his lip.

 

“They have to drown,” he replied and Alfred went pale. “In the ocean. When they get to the point of death, the magic in the mark is awakened and the land-dweller becomes a mer.” Arthur felt Alfred's arm fall from around his shoulders and Alfred moved away to look out of the window, Arthur watching him and Alfred looked as white as a sheet. Arthur did not like the look on Alfred's face either. It was the face of someone trying to hide abject terror.

 

“ _Ma'ew,_ ” he asked. _“Ack chirp at Al?_ ” Matthew turned to his Uncle and cousin.

 

“Arthur's asking what's wrong with Al?” he said. Alex gave a sigh but it was Jason who replied.

 

“Mattie,” he replied. “Alfred's afraid of the ocean. What with the ship sinking when you were four and losing you and Uncle Allan and the more recent ship sinking from under him, Alfred's terrified of it.” Matthew turned to look at his twin who had his back to everyone and was still staring out of the window, pondering the irony. The next King of Spades, an underwater kingdom, was afraid of the environment that surrounded what he was to rule. Matthew translated what Jason had told him to Arthur who's eyes widened in shock before going to Alfred, putting a comforting hand on Alfred's arm and emitting a sound that was somewhere between a chirp and a purr.

 

One good thing about Matthew's arrival was that Arthur now knew what was being said around him and everyone knew what he was saying. The bad thing was he knew there was going to be an argument later but he looked on the bright side. At least it was Matthew and not Yao, who could argue the fins off a shark, although that would come later when they returned to Spades.

 

But this latest revelation was a blow to their plans to bring Alfred back to Spades with them. That Alfred feared the ocean so much, that he might not even set a single foot in the sea was not a problem Arthur had anticipated. He went over to Alfred by the window and could see his pale face, unusual compared to his sun-kissed complexion and Arthur hated to see it, to see the distressed look on Alfred's face and Arthur put his hand on Alfred's arm, emitting the soothing sound given to mers in distress. Alfred turned to look at him and gave him a forced smile.

 

“It's okay, Artie,” he said. “I'm all right.” Arthur did not know what he was saying but he knew that Alfred was not being truthful.

 

Alfred did not know what the sound was that Arthur was making but he suspected is was not a word but it was comforting. He knew that Arthur was distressed at his distress so he pushed a smile on to his face and told Arthur that he was all right but Arthur did not look convinced.

 

As fantastic as the story of Arthur being a merman was, it made sense with Arthur's behaviour. How everything seemed new to him, bathing, fire, horses, it was all things that Arthur had no idea about because he had never encountered them before because he lived underwater. And Matthew had lived underwater ever since the sinking that took their father's life and there was the crux of the matter. He was supposed to become the King of an underwater kingdom but he had sworn he would never go to sea again. Could not face the idea of setting out on to, or into, the salty brine, even though he had not lost his brother to it, like he thought he had. He had still lost his father and had almost drowned himself.... twice and ….. the idea of the sea just made him shudder.

 

Then he realised that Arthur was still making that purr/chirp sound and now had his arms wrapped around his right arm in an effort to comfort him and he pulled Arthur into his embrace.

 

“There's something I don't understand,” he said. “Why didn't Artie drag me back to the water when he knew who I was?” Matthew spoke to Arthur in a series of chirps, eeks, whistles and screeches and Arthur answered him in the same way.

 

“He said he remembered what it was like for me after they found me,” Matthew replied. “I had a lot of nightmares about drowning and Arthur didn't want that to happen to you so he sang the healing song to save you and he was going to explain everything and convince you to come of your own free will.”

 

“Good luck with that!” Jason muttered. “Wait, what do you mean the healing song?” Matthew shrugged.

 

“Alfred must have been badly hurt,” he replied. “Mers have magic and it comes out in our singing. One of our most important songs is the song of healing.”

 

“So that's why Arthur was singing when I woke up!” Alfred realised. “Wait a minute! Arthur was singing the healing song in the town, to a beggar woman and her baby. Why was he doing that?” Matthew chirped and squeaked at Arthur who replied.

 

“He said the woman and her child were sick,” Matthew explained. “So he sang to heal them. He doesn't understand why the woman and child were in such a poor state.” Alfred was a little embarrassed.

 

“No,” he replied. “Arthur didn't seem to understand what poverty was. Money seemed to be particularly baffling to him.”

 

“That's because mers have no monetary system,” Matthew said. “Everyone has a task in the smooth running of the kingdom. One of the tasks is the gathering of food and enough is gathered for everyone, in every city and settlement. Clothing is not an issue as we don't use them.”

 

“Then why …..,” Alfred stopped there, that seemed like a private issue.

 

“Why what?” Alex asked. He did not know about the bathing issues they had had with Arthur. Alfred sighed.

 

“When Artie first got here,” he said. “And Toris took him to bathe, Arthur went a little crazy when Toris tried to remove his trousers so he could get into the bath. He refused to take them off until everyone was out of the room and he got into the bath but, if nobody wears clothes underwater ….”

 

“While it's true that mers go about nude,” Matthew explained. “There's one part of mer anatomy that stays hidden in the tail and to expose it to anyone except your mate in private is considered the height of indecency. Poor Arthur probably thought you were a bunch of perverts” Matthew said that with a grin and Alfred blushed. What a cultural mess-up!

 

“If every mer is nude,” Jason smirked. “Imagine the mermaids”

 

“You _are_ a pervert,” Alex replied, smacking Jason on the back of the head. “The question is what to do now? Are you sure Alfred has to be the King of this Spades kingdom? Because that's asking me to give up my nephew and I lost one already, even if I did get him back.” Matthew shook his head.

 

“There's no one else until the next king is chosen,” he said. “But that won't be for a long time and we've been waiting for Alfred for too long already. Only he can be king.”

 

“Ultimately, that will be Alfred's choice,” Alex said as Matthew went back to muttering translations for Arthur. “He's the one who has to suffer that transformation and, for the time being, I don't think we should tell anyone about Spades or the mers. Who knows how people might react?”

 

“What about the alliance with Mertoris?” Jason asked. “And our royal pain of a guest..... Princess Erica, not Artie.”

 

“There was nothing concrete,” Alex replied. “And, after meeting the girl, I'm not sure I want her in the family. Her manners are atrocious, even when Arthur was not sure of my status, he gave a respectful greeting and Princess Erica does not even have the excuse of not understanding our language. And the potential of an alliance with an Mer kingdom, possibly others, cannot be overlooked. Although, I'm still not happy about this idea of Alfred drowning and becoming a merman.” Alex looked at Arthur and Alfred who were still embracing and, after the translation through Matthew, Arthur looked apologetic.

 

“Not to rain on the parade,” Jason said. “But I don't think our precious princess out there is going to take kindly to that, she seemed pretty sure that she was going to be Mrs Prince Alfred.”

 

“Well. She'll have to get unsure,” Alex was adamant. “I made no promises to King Voss, we were only exploring the possibility. Anything he told his sister is his own problem and, after meeting her, he's welcome to it.” More chirps and clicks from Matthew had Arthur smiling.

 

“And how do we tell Princess Charming that her future marriage is dead in the water?” Jason asked. “I can't wait to see her face when that piece of information is shared. And let's not forget that Alfred has to drown to transform for this, big thing to agree to, especially with his phobia.”

 

“ _Ack eek squeal Al at eck chirp ick cherp erk at ell, (I won't force Al to do anything he doesn't want to do),_ ” Arthur promised. Trying to force Alfred to do what Arthur wanted would only drive Alfred away, the last thing Arthur wanted to do but Alfred's fear of the sea would be a challenge to get over. He would have to take it slowly and Matthew told them what Arthur had said.

 

“It seems we have much to ponder,” Alex replied. “I'll retire and think about all this and think of a way to break the news to Princess Erica. Jason, I want you to keep her occupied until I reach a decision.” Jason groaned. He had not known Princess Erica for long but he could tell she was high maintenance.

 

“In the meantime,” Alex turned to Alfred. “I think you and Matthew have some catching up to do. Perhaps go walk and talk in the gardens and maybe take Queen Arthur with you. I think you'll need to talk to him too, about what's expected of you as the King of Spades ….. if that's what you choose.”

 

* * * * *

 

It was warm in the garden and Matthew tried to remember if it had always looked like this but his memories were foggy as he walked beside Alfred and Arthur. He found himself having to drink before he went out and found Arthur doing that too. Drinking was unnecessary underwater and it felt strange for air to occupy his mouth and not fluid so thirst was a unfamiliar, and unpleasant, feeling and he missed the taste of sea salt.

 

He walked along the path, Alfred in the middle and Arthur on Alfred's right and, for a while nothing was said. Then Alfred suddenly asked...

 

“What happened to Dad?” It was something Matthew did remember to some degree and he wished he did not and he took a deep breath.

 

“Dad tried to hold me up, above the water,” he said. “He held me up for as long as he could but eventually he ran out of strength.” Matthew could remember the strong arms faltering and him sinking lower in the water and, eventually the arms were not there any more and he sank beneath the water, the salty brine filled his lungs and nostrils and his body screamed for air but there was none to be had. Just as his vision began to fade to black, his four year old body had begun to tingle in his legs, his hands and around his neck. Then, suddenly, the need for air vanished and the water became his air as the blackness in vision receded and he saw his father floating in the water and he moved his hands, which now had skin between the fingers that caught the water and he made his way to his father's body to hold on to. He wrapped his little arms around his father's waist and that was when he saw the tail. At first, he terrifyingly thought there was something in the water with them but when he realised that the tail was attached to him, he became even more scared and held on to his father's body tighter, calling for him and that was how the Spadian mers found him, clinging to his land-dweller father's corpse.

 

“The mers came,” he continued. “They had to persuade me to let go of Dad and they took his body to the shore so he would be found and buried and they took me to the Coral Palace.”

 

“The Coral Palace?” Alfred asked.

 

“Where the royal pod of Spades resides,” Matthew replied. “Where you will live when …. if you decide to become king.”

 

“And if I do,” Alfred asked. “What exactly does the king do?”

 

“He's the main leader,” Matthew replied. “But Arthur's been filling that role since we didn't know that you were the king or where you were. Or even that you were still alive. The king is also the head of the Spadian army.” Alfred closed his eyes and tried to imagine the idea of deliberately drowning himself and he began to shake so he stopped.

 

“What happens if I don't?” he asked. Alfred hoped that Spades would not be left hanging if he could not bring himself to go through the transformation.

 

“I honestly don't know,” Matthew said. “Land-dwellers being chosen as royals is rare but there's never been a king that failed to take his place. All eventually ended up at the palace but I think this reign would be king-less, Arthur would have to hold both positions and we would have to wait for the next set of royals.” Alfred looked at Arthur who looked back at him with a quizzical expression, as wondering what they were talking about but refrained from asking Matthew. He had only just got his brother back and they needed time to themselves.

 

“Would it be hard for Artie?” Alfred asked. “Doing the work of both?” Matthew sighed.

 

“He's done well so far,” he said. “But that's because the kingdoms are in harmony right now. It would be better for us to have a king, in case things turn turbulent. Wars are rare between mers but they're brutal when they happen and it would be best with both a king and a queen.” Alfred looked at Arthur again.

 

“Matthew, can you translate to Artie?” he asked.

 

“Of course, Al,” Matthew replied. “What do you want to say to him?”

 

“Translate this,” Alfred said. “Artie, I honestly don't know if I can face the thought of drowning, even with so much at stake. I need time, you understand that, don't you?” Matthew turned to Arthur and gave Alfred's speech in mer. Arthur looked at Alfred and put his hand on his cheek and smiled, a little sadly.

 

“ _Ack chirp at tch erk ich eek,_ ” Arthur replied. “ _ick ack akaka._ ”

 

“Arthur said,” Matthew told Alfred. “That he wants you to go with him but he'll wait.” Alfred smiled at Arthur and hugged him, unaware that they had an audience and it was not Matthew. Matthew turned his head when Alfred pulled Arthur up his body to meet his lips. Despite the years apart, watching your brother make out with someone, especially with one of your best friends was a distinctly awkward past-time.

 

* * * * *

 

Princess Erica stood on the balcony of her chambers, looking down into the gardens in fury as she watched Prince Alfred kiss that.....that.... _interloper_....when he was supposed to be hers. He was even doing it in front of his....brother? Erica was still not convinced that Matthew was who he said he was. After nearly sixteen years, his dead brother shows up alive and well and seems to approve of that fiancé stealer who was the one who claimed that it was Prince Matthew but was it a ploy to get closer to Alfred? As if he stood a chance of taking Alfred from her! Theirs was a marriage of alliance as well as a meeting of souls so whatever that thief's goal was, it was doomed to failure.

 

She and Alfred would be married and then she would deal with Sir Arthur!

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can Alfred ever face what he needs to do to be King ……?


	7. Coming To An Understanding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex has a talk with Arthur about the future and Alfred makes things clear to Princess Erica....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry. I know I'm a week later with this but with work, family events and, of course Christmas, I didn't have a lot of time to write but I finally got this chapter done. Hope you like....

 

_**Chapter 7 : Coming To An Understanding!** _

 

“You know,” Matthew interrupted the kiss. “Whether you're a land-dweller or a mer, Alfred, your brother passionately kissing your friend is very embarrassing to watch.” Alfred looked at his brother with a blush on his face.

 

“Sorry, Mattie,” he grinned. “Artie's just too adorable. And to come from the sea, just to find me...”

 

“Yes,” Matthew replied. “Thanks for reminding me about that, _Arthur!_ ” Arthur turned at the sound of his name and the conversation changed to Mer.

 

“ _Why did you leave without telling us?”_ Matthew scolded. _“The whole kingdom was in an uproar when we found you were missing. Yao was tearing his hair out!”_

 

“ _I'm sorry, Matthew,”_ Arthur replied. _“I was only going to talk to the Jokers to see if there was a way to find Alfred. When they told me they could turn me into a land-dweller …..”_

 

“ _You should have come back and told us,”_ Matthew said. _“And we could have worked out a plan together.”_ Arthur shook his head.

 

“ _You and Yao were so against the idea of looking for Alfred,”_ Arthur fumed, crossing his arms in defence. _“You would have stopped me so I took matters into my own hands.”_ Matthew sighed.

 

“ _We weren't against looking for Alfred,”_ he denied. _“We just didn't think there was a way to do so. If you told us what the Jokers had said, we would have come up with a plan and I should have come for Alfred.”_

 

“ _You didn't know what Alfred looked like,”_ Arthur argued. _“You had no idea that the next King of Spades was your brother. I didn't know he was your brother until I saw that image of the two of you as fingerlings so I was the one who had to …..”_

 

“ _Arthur, you're the Queen of Spades.”_ Matthew replied. _“We were already missing our king, what if we lost you as well.... Ah well, what's done is done! But you can believe Yao won't let it drop when we get back to Spades!”_

 

Yes, Arthur knew that argument was coming!

 

“Hey, Mattie, bro!” Alfred said, listening to all the chirps, clicks and eeks and he knew Arthur and Matthew were having a full conversation without him. “I'm starting to feel a little left out here.”

 

“Sorry, Alfie,” Matthew replied. “Just giving Arthur a what for. He came here without telling anyone and threw the palace into chaos.” Alfred put his arm around Arthur.

 

“Was Artie a naughty boy, just for me?” he teased. Arthur did not understand what Alfred was saying but cuddled into the hug. Matthew groaned and face-palmed.

 

“Will you two just get a room already?” he moaned.

 

* * *

 

King Alex sipped at his goblet of wine and pondered the recent events, He was elated that his long, lost nephew had returned but, if what Matthew said was true, he would not be able to stay and Alex would also have to face the fact that he could lose Alfred too, although knowing that both were alive out there was an improvement on thinking Matthew was dead but Alex had raised Alfred from the age of four and loved him like a son. The idea that Alfred would no longer be living in the castle was something Alex found hard to imagine, even if Alfred had married Princess Erica (and that was not going to happen now, even if the benefits of the alliance were great. Alfred would be miserable with such a spouse so Alex and King Voss would just have to arrange the alliance in another way), they would have lived in the castle but, if Alfred really was destined to become a merman and rule an underwater kingdom (Alex was still not sold on that, if he was honest), then Alfred could not stay in the castle. But surely they would not lose all contact, would they? Would the mers stop Alfred and Matthew from visiting their land-dweller family? Alex could not see Arthur demanding that, somehow and, maybe they could have an alliance with the Kingdom of Spades. With the King of Altheia and the King of Spades being Uncle and Nephew, it was not beyond the realms of possibility. Yes, this could work out if Alex could get some assurances that he would not completely lose his nephews and he could get that from Queen Arthur.

 

So perhaps a discussion with Queen Arthur, with Matthew translating, might lay a few worries to rest.

 

* * *

 

Dinner was an awkward affair. With Matthew returning from the dead and foreign royalty visiting, a finer meal than normal was prepared in celebration and everyone was seated with King Alex at one end of the table and Matthew as guest of honour at the other. Between the two, on one side, was sat Alfred and Arthur, with Alfred sat by the king while a scowling Princess Erica was seated opposite Arthur who sat close to Matthew so he could translate for him and Jason sat to Erica's side and by his father. Erica was upset that she was not sat beside Alfred and threw poisonous looks in Arthur's direction. Jason tried to distract her with small talk but she just ignored him as she constantly tried to keep Alfred's attention focus on her.

 

“I missed you after you left, Prince Alfred,” she simpered. “I hope you plan to come back to Mertoris soon.” She brightened up. “Perhaps you can return with me. We have so much to discuss, with the wedding and everything.” Arthur frowned when he heard Matthew's translation and Alfred tried to look diplomatic.

 

“I don't think I'll be stepping foot on another ship for a while,” he replied. “If ever.” And Erica's face dropped.

 

“As for the wedding,” Alex said, determined to nip this delusion in the bud. “There are no arrangements between our kingdoms as to that, as yet. In fact, recent events may change plans somewhat.” Erica looked at the Altheian king sharply.

 

“What do you mean?” she demanded.

 

“Nothing is certain yet,” Alex replied. “But the recent recovery of Prince Matthew and other events may make an alliance by marriage untenable so we shall have to see.” That was not what Erica wanted to hear but Arthur smiled when he was told what Alex had said.

 

“But Prince Alfred came to Mertoris to...,” she spluttered.

 

“To see the viability of such an alliance,” Alex replied, adamantly. “But Prince Matthew had not been found then and it changes things. We shall have to see how things go.” But the Mertorian Princess was not willing to let things go so easily.

 

“How do you even know that this is the real Prince Matthew?” Erica snapped. “He could be some peasant imposter who just happens to resemble Alfred. Are you willing to throw away the alliance because of some interloper?” Alfred scowled at Erica and Arthur erupted into a chorus of angry chirps and clicks.

 

“Arthur said 'how dare you!',” Matthew replied, turning to Princess Erica. “My uncle knows I'm who I say I am. Like it or not, Princess Erica, I am Prince Matthew and I'm sorry if that throws your plans into disarray but it is what it is.” Erica was flushing red and Alex spoke.

 

“I know beyond a doubt that Matthew is my nephew,” Alex replied. “I have my own means of identifying Matthew and Matthew definitely is the nephew I lost so many years ago when I lost my own twin brother and I will not hear anything to the contrary.” Erica's lips tightened but she said nothing and Alex turned to Matthew.

 

“Incidentally, Matthew,” he said. “I wish to speak to both you and Q....Sir Arthur tomorrow morning. There are some matters I need clarifying.” Matthew translated to Arthur who looked in the king's direction and nodded. “Now, let's talk of other things, this is supposed to be a celebratory dinner.” Alex and Jason began to regale Arthur, translated by Matthew, with some of the antics Alfred got up to as a boy, much to the embarrassment of Alfred, which had Arthur _ack, ack, ack_ -ing with laughter and giving Matthew the giggles as well while Erica sat and seethed with indignation at what she had just heard. That they were pulling out of the marriage alliance because they had found someone saying he was Alfred's long, lost twin and Erica knew that this mysterious _Sir Arthur_ was involved somehow, especially after that kiss she saw in the garden. Was this a plot between the two to steal Alfred away from her? She looked at Alfred and Arthur and saw them look and smile at each other, making her incensed that this _person_ was laying claim to Alfred before her eyes. No one was going to take what was hers.

 

No one!

 

* * *

 

Arthur listened as Matthew translated the stories that King Alex and Prince Jason told of Alfred as a child, especially the one about the bison (whatever that was) that Alfred tried to keep as a pet and the reaction of the maid when she found it and how it ran amok through Alfred's birthday party, scattering guests, left and right. Alfred sounded like he was a mischievous little fingerling and Arthur could not get enough of hearing about what Alfred used to get up to. He wished he could tell them some of the stories of Matthew's younger years but he got the feeling that Matthew would refuse to translate them.

 

But through it all, Arthur could feel eyes on him and he knew it was Princess Erica, glaring at him. From what Matthew had told him, she seemed to think she had some kind of claim on Alfred, like he was her own personal property and that did not sit well with Arthur. Alfred was destined to be the King of Spades, a kingdom this rude land-dweller could be no part of and Arthur was glad about that. Besides, Alfred had already shown his affections for Arthur and, as Alfred's Queen, Arthur had no intention of rejecting him.

 

Under the table, Arthur felt Alfred's fingers lace between his and he looked toward Alfred who looked back at him and they smiled at each other. Arthur found it hard to believe that Alfred could get any more handsome but he managed it every time Arthur looked at him.

 

No, Alfred was his, by Alfred's own choice. Whether he went through the transformation to become King or not, Arthur would not give Alfred up now and Princess Erica would just have to live with the disappointment. Arthur gave her no more thought as Matthew began to translate another escapade, told by Jason that was guaranteed to make Alfred turn red with embarrassment.

 

* * *

 

 After dinner, Princess Erica was escorted back to her chambers by Prince Jason and she peppered him with questions about Arthur.

 

“Who is he, really?” she demanded. “And how do you know for sure that he's royalty, like _Prince Matthew_ claims?” She said Prince Matthew with a strong hint of disbelief.

 

“Why would my _cousin_ lie?” Jason emphasised _cousin_ , not appreciating Princess Erica's doubts. “Matthew said that Q..Sir Arthur is a royal of the Kingdom of Spades, a highly prominent one at that.”

 

“A prominent royal that swims about in the ocean, rescuing people!” she snorted, mockingly. “That sounds like no royal I've ever heard of.”

 

“From what I can gather,” Jason replied. “The Spadian people have a very different culture to ours. They no doubt have a lot of different customs that we might find strange.” Erica sniffed.

 

“Sound like savages to me,” she commented.

 

“Well, that _savage_ ,” Jason replied, objecting to the term. “Is the reason Prince Alfred is still with us and, I for one, am happy with his presence. If it is savage to save a life, it's a level of savagery we should all aspire to. I believe these are your chambers, Your Highness so I shall wish you well with the rest of your day.” They were stood at the door to Princess Erica's chambers and he bowed and left, wanting to get away from her as soon as possible.

 

Princess Erica stared after Prince Jason as he walked away from her as fast as possible without running. Even though Prince Jason was the Crowned Prince of Altheia, his opinion meant nothing to her but it was clear that this _Sir Artie_ was asserting his influence over the Altheian Royals to destroy the alliance that would see Alfred and herself married.

 

He had to be stopped. And she would have to keep an eye on _Prince Matthew_ too.

 

* * *

 

The next day, Alfred had wanted to sit in on the audience with King Alex, Matthew and Arthur but Alex had wanted to speak with Arthur alone, with Matthew translating so he was told to occupy himself while the other three royals talked and he took a walk down to the beach and looked out over the ocean. He tried to imagine what the underwater kingdom that Arthur came from and where Matthew grew up was like, although he knew it could only be very different from Altheia. Instead of birds, tweeting outside your window in the morning, you might see colourful fish swimming by. Going for a walk would be going for a swim and people swimming all around you. Gardens replaced by beautiful and colourful coral reefs. According to Arthur, Alfred was destined to rule over such a kingdom but only if he could go through the transformation and that was what Alfred had a problem with. As Thalassophobic as he was, could Alfred willingly let himself drown? He who had sworn never to go to sea again?

 

The water lapping against the shore seemed to be innocuous but filled Alfred with foreboding, one he had not felt when he found Arthur because he had concentrated on helping the man, seemingly swept in by the sea and never once looked at the ocean. Now the ocean was the focus of Alfred's full attention and he eyed it, warily. Could he deliberately submerge himself in the salty water and allow it to fill his lungs? Could he even enter the water at all?

 

Alfred removed his boots and stockings and rolling his trousers to above his knees, Alfred walked across the sand to the shallow waves, rippling over the sand toward him and then running back, only to return as he got closer until he finally felt the cool salt water between his toes and flowing over his feet.

 

This was not so bad, not very different to stepping into the bath, only less warm and Alfred took another step into the water and it reached his ankles, still not a problem as he moved further through the sea. Apprehension began to poke at Alfred as the water climbed his calves and the water currents began to drag at Alfred while making it difficult to move through the sea at any great speed, holding Alfred in its restraining grip. Alfred stopped when the water was just below his knees, unable to go any further and took a deep breath to calm down, tamping down his nervousness of the sea and felt able to take another step.

 

His foot came down on a smooth rock awkwardly and slipped. Alfred lost his footing and fell, hitting the water and sinking beneath the salty brine, the water closing over his head and filling his mouth, not having time to take a deep breath and close his mouth. Alfred flailed his arms around in panic, breaking the surface of the water with a gasp, spitting water and struggling to his feet. He moved as fast as he could to the shore and collapsed on to the sand when he was clear of the sea.

 

Alfred lay on the sand, gasping and feeling ashamed of himself. Even before the slip, Alfred had been fearful of the water, lapping around his legs and when he went under the water …....

 

“I'm sorry, Artie,” he whispered. “I don't think I can do this!”

 

* * *

 

Arthur, Matthew and King Alex were sat in the King's Study, refreshments on the table between them as Alex sat across from Arthur and considered the Spadian mer carefully. Would Queen Arthur give him the reassurances that he was seeking about still being able to see his nephews, if or when Alfred decided to make the transformation to the Mer King of Spades.

 

“Thank you for agreeing to talk to me in private, Queen Arthur,” he began. “You understand that Alfred means a great deal to the royal family, as does Matthew as well, now that we know he still lives.” Matthew spoke to Arthur in click, chirps and eeks as he told Arthur what his uncle had said. Arthur looked back at Alex and chirped and clicked and eeked back at him.

 

“Arthur said it's his pleasure to discuss matters with you,” Matthew said. “And he understands that you might have concerns.” Alex nodded.

 

“Indeed,” he replied, addressing Arthur. “So you understand that I have no wish to lose complete contact with my nephews. To that end, I wish to arrange a diplomatic treaty between our two kingdoms so I can still see my nephews, should Alfred go through the transformation, and perhaps arrange some trade between our two kingdoms. I would like to discuss the likelihood of such a treaty.” It took Matthew a while to translate everything that Alex had said that led to a discussion between the two mers.

 

“ _I assume you wish to maintain contact with your uncle and cousin?_ ” Arthur asked. _“I would, in your place.”_ Matthew hummed.

 

“ _I would like that,_ ” Matthew admitted. _“I spent years believing my brother was dead and not knowing how to find the rest of my family. Now that I have them back, I would hate to lose them again. Do you think we could make a treaty?_ ” Arthur thought for a moment.

 

“ _A trade treaty is Yao's domain,”_ he replied. “ _It's up to him to see if it can be negotiated but something can be arranged for you to keep in contact with your land-dweller family, I'm sure, now that we know that the Jokers can change us into land-dwellers but we would have to speak to them first, I would not want to just assume.”_

 

“ _Should I tell my uncle?”_

 

“ _By all means.”_

 

“Arthur said that trade treaties are the duty of the Jack,” Matthew explained. “But, and he would have to talk to the Jokers about it but, if they agree, Arthur is confident that a diplomatic arrangement can be created with Altheia so Alfred and I can stay in touch with you.” Alex gave a relieved smile.

 

“That's good news, if it can be arrange,” he said and Matthew translated. “But this all depends on Alfred choosing his destiny, I will not have him forced into this.” Arthur chirped and whistled to Matthew who turned to his uncle.

 

“Arthur said he would never do that,” he replied. “It must be Alfred's decision but Arthur has confidence in Alfred. He is sure that Alfred will choose the king-ship.”

 

“As long as we are clear,” Alex said and raised his goblet of wine as Matthew told Arthur the King's reply. “I propose a toast. To the hope of a future of alliance between the Kingdom of Spades and the Kingdom of Altheia!” Matthew translated and explained about toasts and Arthur too picked up a goblet of wine. It was a drink that he had acquired a taste for and he raised his goblet, along with Matthew.

 

“ _At erk click ack_ _ **whistle**_ _squeal!_ ” Arthur said.

 

“To the hope of a future alliance!” Matthew translated.

 

* * *

 

Jason, once again, had the unenviable task of entertaining Princess Erica who was not happy that Alfred had not been near her since the celebratory dinner for Matthew. He was her destined husband but he was neglecting her and Jason was no substitute.

 

“Why is Alfred not here with me?” she demanded as they walked in the gardens. “I came here to see him but he's ignoring me. Why?” Jason sighed. This rude brat was definitely high maintenance.

 

“You arrived at a bad time,” he made excuses for Alfred. “The recovery of his brother is taking priority at this time, he hasn't seen Matthew since he was four.”

 

“Really?” she said, disbelievingly as she looked across the garden. “Strange how his brother is currently in the company of the so-called 'prominent royal', rather than with Alfred.” Jason looked toward the part of the garden that she was staring at and groaned as he saw Matthew walking with Arthur. They must have finished the audience with his father and come out of the gardens, talk about bad timing.

 

“So where is Alfred now?” she demanded. Jason had no answer for that and she stalked away, heading for the two Spadian royals.

 

“Where is your brother?” she demanded as she approached Arthur and Matthew. Matthew, once again, was taken aback by this foreign princess's lack of manners and inflated entitlement.

 

“I'm afraid, I don't know,” Matthew replied. “Arthur and I have just come from an audience with my uncle and Alfred was asked to give us some privacy.”

 

“And where did he go?” she huffed. Matthew rolled his eyes.

 

“As I said,” he retorted. “I don't know!” Arthur erupted in a tirade of clicks and whistles, not knowing what the princess was saying but disliking the tone she was using.

 

“What did _he_ say?” Erica demanded. Matthew grimaced.

 

“He said,” he lied. “That he's tired of not understanding people and having to depend on me to know what's being said because sometimes I forget to translate.” What Arthur had actually said was _I can't believe this spoilt child is royalty. Her manners are appalling, she shows no respect to anyone and she thinks people are hers to do what she likes with!_ Matthew agreed with everything Arthur said but could only imagine Princess Erica's reaction if he told her the truth. Jason raised an eyebrow at Matthew, showing that he knew that Matthew had lied in his translation and could only surmise that what Arthur had really said would not have gone down well.

 

“Then he should learn the language,” she sniffed. Before Matthew or Jason could answer that, her attention was caught by a sopping wet figure making his way across the garden from the end closest to the beach.

 

“Prince Alfred,” she gushed and then noticed his state. “Why are you so wet?” The three men in the group turned to see Alfred dripping water from head to foot and Arthur immediately went to Alfred, clicking and chirping. He knew Alfred had been to the ocean because he could smell the sea water he was covered in.

 

“What happened, Alfred?” Matthew asked.

 

“I was down at the beach and I fell into the water,” he replied, flicking water from his fingertips. "I was trying to get used to the sea again.” Matthew translated that for Arthur who looked at Alfred, hopefully. “I slipped and went under. Not exactly what I needed to happen.” Arthur's face dropped at that translation.

 

“Why would you want to go into the sea anyway?” Erica replied and then she noticed Arthur fussing over Alfred. “Get away from him, you interloper!” And she went over and pushed Arthur away. Alfred rushed to stop Arthur from falling and scowled at Erica, incensed that she had laid aggressive hands on the man he loved.

 

“Don't talk to him like that!” he snapped, holding Arthur to him. “I have had just about enough of the way you treat people. You're rude to just about everyone and, if I'd noticed that when I visited Mertoris, I would have made it clear that I wouldn't marry you in a million years.”

 

“But....,” Erica could not believe what Alfred was saying to her. “This man …...”

 

“Is my future husband,” Alfred replied. “One way or another! Someone should have told you before but I'm not romantically attracted to girls, I prefer men in general and Artie in particular. I never made any promises to you, what you believe is in your own head so let me make this clear. I. Am. Not. Going. To. Marry. You!”

 

“But.....,” she spluttered. “But...but you can't even understand him without _Prince Matthew!_ ”

 

“That doesn't matter,” Alfred replied. “I love Artie and, even if I didn't, I could never love you! Even if Artie wasn't around, after this little visit, even my uncle is having second and third thoughts about a marriage of alliance with you, for which I'm eternally grateful.” Erica could not believe what Alfred was saying to her and she turned to Arthur.

 

“This is your fault,” she hissed. “You've poisoned Alfred against me, I'll make you pay for this.” Everyone gasped as she turned on her heel and stalked away. Matthew translated Erica's threat to Arthur who vowed to keep Princess Erica away from Alfred in the future. He was not worried for himself, he had his own defences but she was clearly obsessed with Alfred and who knew what she would do to get what she wanted.

 

“Wow, Alfred!” Jason was astonished. “I know she's a pain but that was savage.” Alfred snorted.

 

“Nothing else was getting through to her,” he replied. “Uncle Alex told her that the marriage was less likely but she still thought it was going to happen. The only way was to be blunt and I'm sick of pussy-footing around her. Maybe now she'll get the message.” He turned to Arthur.

 

“Matthew, translate this for me,” he said. “Arthur, I don't know if I can go through the transformation to be King of Spades but I promise, I'm gonna try and I'm doing it for you. Because I love you!” When Matthew finished translating Alfred's speech, Arthur put his arms around Alfred's neck and pulled him down for a kiss.

 

“ _Eek chirp ack at,_ ” Arthur replied.

 

“He said,” Matthew told Alfred. “That he loves you too.” Jason groaned at all the lovey-dovey fluff.

 

“Oh yuk!” he commented. “Get a room!” Matthew laughed to think that he had said the same thing. Great minds!

 

* * *

 

Princess Erica's personal servant turned in shock as the chamber door banged against the wall and saw his mistress, a quivering ball of rage as she slammed the door shut again. This was never good as this was when the young royal was at her most unreasonable as Princess Erica began to rant.

 

“How dare he!” she stormed. “HOW DARE HE TALK TO ME LIKE THAT! HOW DARE HE REJECT ME!” The servant had a guess that Prince Alfred had seen the Princess for what she was like and made his feelings known and if he had rejected her …... Oh, this was going to end badly!

 

“It's that interloper!” she continued to fume. “That.....that.....that ARTHUR! He's behind this, infecting my Alfred with his poisonous influence! Well, I'll deal with him....and that _so-called_ brother of Alfred's.” She looked up at her servant with an insane gleam in her eye that made him want to run for the hills.

 

“GUARDS!” she bellowed and her personal guards came in. “I have a task for you. I want you to watch Prince Alfred, Prince Matthew and Sir Arthur and, when you find them alone, take them to the ship without being seen and keep them there.” The guards looked at each other in confusion but did not question their orders and left to carry it out. Her servant was horrified.

 

“Your Highness!” he gasped. “Please reconsider, this could lead to war! Your brother, the King....”

 

“Would be affronted that the Altheians are pulling out of the treaty like this,” she huffed. “Pack our belongings and take them to the ship we must be ready to sail, the moment the guards have Alfred and those ….. other two.”

 

“King Alex will react badly to the abduction of his nephews,” he replied. “You can't ….” Princess Erica went to her dresser and opened one of the drawers, taking out a jewelled dagger before pinning her servant against the wall, the dagger to his throat.

 

“Do I have to deal with you too?” she demanded and the servant gulped.

 

“No, Your Highness,” he said, weakly.

 

“Good!” she snapped. “Now pack my things! Once we have the two princes and that fiancé thief and we're out at sea, I'll deal with _Sir Arthur!”_

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> She didn't take that well.  
> Next chapter : Things get hairy and Arthur is in danger ….. or is he?...


	8. Act of War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Princess Erica loses it …...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a shorter chapter than usual but I wanted to get this out on time....

 

_**Chapter 8 : Act of War** _

 

 

As much as Alfred was grateful that he knew what Arthur was saying now, the fact he could only do so with his brother interpreting meant that alone time with his Artie was a little thin on the ground and poor Matthew was often left feeling like a third wheel. Good news was the rumour that Princess Erica was having her entourage pack up and Alfred took this as Erica finally getting the message and he wondered how his uncle was going to smooth this over with King Voss as the story that Erica would tell him would not paint him in a good light but Alfred had to admit he had been rather harsh but when she attacked Artie like that, he had seen red.

 

His uncle had not been pleased when he heard about Alfred's little outburst but what was done was done. Besides, Mertoris was not about to go to war about it, the offence was not severe enough and Altheia had Vynlande as an ally, through an actual established marriage contract, as well as friendship and family ties, and Mertoris would not be a match for them. However, King Alex was prepared to negotiate a different treaty and willing to offer some concessions to smooth over any ruffled feathers.

 

Without the shadow of the overly-possessive princess hanging over them, Alfred and Arthur were able to get closer without any interference and they walked together through the gardens. Wanting to talk to Arthur alone, Alfred asked Matthew to hang back for a while and they fell back on their old system of miming what they wanted to tell the other but the language of love needed no translation as most of their interactions consisted of kisses and caresses as they moved into the most isolated part of the gardens, away from prying eyes.

 

Despite being back to the language barrier for the time being, Arthur was happy to have Alfred to himself for a while. The little kisses and touches told Arthur that Alfred was falling for him more and more which suited Arthur fine. The more Alfred fell in love with Arthur, the more it might draw Alfred closer to the idea of transforming. Arthur did not know what he would do if Alfred rejected the idea of transforming because Arthur could not do without Alfred now.

 

“Artie,” Alfred said and Arthur turned to face him. “I wish I could talk to you the way you talk to Matthew.” He pointed to himself and then clenched his fists in front of him, like he was begging for something then pointed back to himself before making a talking motion with his hand and pointing to Arthur. Then he pointed in the direction of Matthew whom they could see at a distance before making the talking motion again and pointing to Arthur again. Arthur pondered the hand motions for a moment before realising what Alfred was telling him. Then Arthur pointed to himself, made the same clenching motion with his fists and pointed back to himself, made the talking motion before pointing to Alfred. _I wish I could talk to you too._

 

“I love you,” Alfred replied and pointed to himself then made a heart shape with his hands before pointing to Arthur. Arthur wondered why Alfred made the symbol of the Hearts Kingdom and he copied it, cocking his head, questioningly. Alfred realised that Arthur did not know what the heart shape meant so he made it again but this time put it over his chest, above his actual heart. Arthur gave a look of recognition and repeated the hand gestures back to Alfred. _I love you too!_

 

Alfred smiled and put his finger under Arthur's chin to raise it and he placed a light kiss on Arthur's lips and was about to go in for a deeper one when the sound of running feet reached his ears. Both Alfred and Arthur turned to see masked men running toward them, their intent clearly not friendly. Alfred pushed Arthur behind him and prepared to defend him, managing to land a punch on the first attacker before more flew in to restrain him and others headed for Arthur. Arthur did not even bother to moderate his form of attack as the masked men reached for him.

“ _SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECCCCHHHHH!_ ” the sound came out at Arthur's most piercing and was no warning shot but a full-on battle cry that made everyone reach for their ears in pain, including Alfred but he took the opportunity to free himself, grab Arthur and they ran toward Matthew who had heard the screech and turned to see Alfred and Arthur under attack and began running toward them. He was unable to screech himself as the change in his vocal cords restricted his ability. Arthur and Alfred had almost reached Matthew when they were suddenly overwhelmed by more attackers who, forewarned about Arthur's ability, were not caught so off-guard. One grabbed Arthur and put his hand over Arthur's mouth to prevent him from screeching again.

 

Matthew, just as any Ace would, went to defend his queen but two masked attackers intercepted him before he could reach Arthur and was stuck in a fight to free himself but, as well-trained as Matthew was in combat, it had been in water and the open air combat was different. He could throw a punch but his co-ordination was off-kilter and it gave his opponents the upper hand.

 

Alfred had gone to protect Arthur at the same time as Matthew, to free Arthur from his captor but he found himself facing off against stiff odds as more attackers came to subdue Matthew and himself as Arthur struggled with the masked man who held him in his grip. Alfred managed to punch another two of his opponents before his arms were grabbed and he was forced to the ground beside Matthew who had already been incapacitated and they were tied up leaving Arthur to struggle alone. With his mouth covered, Arthur could not use his voice and he tried to thrash about to dislodge his captor but he was firmly caught in the man's grip and the man shifted his hand to, not only cover Arthur's mouth but his nostrils as well.

 

Arthur began to panic. The inability to breathe, whether water or air, was not a sensation that Arthur was familiar with and he did not like it at all. His lungs began to scream with the need for oxygen and, in some detached part of his brain, Arthur wondered if this was what it was like for land-dwellers to drown. He tried to move his head left and right to dislodge the hand but his attacker held his head firmly in place and the hand stayed where it was. Arthur's lungs began to burn, spots appearing in front of his eyes and blackness closed in from the edge of his vision. He began to feel weaker and his struggles lost power as the blackness grew and the last thing Arthur heard before unconsciousness was Alfred shouting his name before he sank into darkness, falling limply beneath his captor.

 

“ARTIE!” Alfred screamed as the attackers began to tie up the lifeless Arthur, making sure to gag him so he would not wake up and screech at them again. “If you've harmed him in any way.....”

 

“Gag them as well!” the leader said. “We don't want them making noise and alerting anyone.” And strips of cloth were put over Alfred and Matthew's mouths to stop them from calling out. Then they were picked up and Arthur was thrown over a strong shoulder.

 

“Let's get to the ship quickly,” the leader said. “We'll need to sail before they're missed.” And as quickly as they came, the masked men disappeared into the gardens taking the two Spadian royals and the Altheian Sea Prince with them.

 

* * *

 

King Alex and Prince Jason were seeing off their troublesome guest who had no trouble making her displeasure clear. Alfred and Matthew were missing and Alex offered to send someone to get them so they could give their farewells to the departing Mertorian princess.

 

“Don't bother!” she snapped. “I have no wish to see their faces, especially Alfred after what he said to me!” Alex sighed.

 

“That was not well done of him,” he admitted. “Alfred does not always employ tact, I'm afraid, although trying to attack Sir Artie would not have …...”

 

“Don't mention that fiancé thief to me!” Erica was in a snapping mood. “If not for him ….. and as for 'Prince Matthew', I find it entirely too convenient that this long, lost brother showed up just as Alfred was about to marry me …..”

 

“Your Highness, Matthew is my cousin,” Jason replied. “We have no doubt about that, it was just bad timing.”

 

“And the marriage had not been arranged yet,” Alex added. “Therefore, Alfred was not about to marry you, Your Highness, it was only ever a vague possibility.”

 

“I was led to believe that....”

 

“Not by us,” Alex said, adamantly. “I'm sorry for your disappointment, Your Highness and I will talk to your brother and make amends for this.” Princess Erica turned to climb into her carriage.

 

“Not if I talk to my brother first,” she huffed. “You'll be lucky if this doesn't lead to war. Coachman, drive on!” The carriage door was shut behind her and the entourage set off and rode out of the gates.

 

“Good riddance to bad rubbish,” Jason breathed a sigh of relief. “Does she really think that Mertoris will declare war on us?” Alex gave a derisive laugh.

 

“I really think she does,” he replied. “Fortunately, I have had conversations with King Voss and the man is not a fool, except when it comes to his sister it seems. He knows his kingdom could not win a war against Altheia and I think he'll be happy to negotiate a new treaty with me. For the benefits and to avoid war so I don't think we have anything to worry about. Send someone to find Alfred and tell him it's safe to come out of hiding.”

 

* * *

 

Princess Erica sat back in her seat and smiled. Everything had gone to plan. The moment she got word that Alfred, Matthew and _Sir Arthur_ had been captured, she had ordered their departure. The three men should be safely stored on the ship by now and soon they would be on their way, back to Mertoris and she and Alfred would be man and wife.

 

“Your Highness,” her servant said. “I beg you to reconsider. This will start a war and Mertoris can't win against Altheia, not with Vynlande as their ally. We can let them go now and no one would ever know of our involvement.” But Princess Erica was too far gone now that reason could not reach her and it would have far reaching consequences for all of them. He could only hope that King Voss could handle the fall out from all this.

 

* * *

 

Arthur fought his way back to consciousness to find himself with his hands tied behind his back, his ankles tied together and a piece of covering filling his mouth and tied in place. He looked around and found himself on a pallet on the floor of a small area with bars around it and it all felt like it was swaying. Beyond the bars, he could see Alfred and Matthew in similar cells, however they were not bound and gagged like him. Seeing that Arthur was now awake, Alfred got to his feet from his own pallet and moved to the bars.

 

“Artie!” he called. “Are you hurt?” Matthew translated for Arthur and Arthur shook his head but he hated the cloth in his mouth that forced him to breathe through his nose. He struggled to sit up, resting on his knees.

 

“Why did they untie us but not Artie?” Alfred asked Matthew.

 

“So he can't remove his gag,” Matthew replied. “They've already had a taste of his war screech.”

 

“Why didn't you use a war screech, Matthew?” Alfred asked.

 

“I can't,” Matthew replied. “When the Jokers transformed me, they also transformed my vocal cords so I could speak Land-dweller again. It affected my ability to produce a war screech. I should get it back when I become a mer again. Until then, I'm screech-less.”

 

“Who grabbed us anyway?” Alfred asked.

 

“I don't know,” Matthew admitted. “But I think I can guess …..” Before anything more could be said, there were the sound of footsteps and men appeared outside the cells, sailors by the look of them.

 

“Who are you?” Alfred demanded. “Why have you brought us here?” He was ignored and one of the sailors pointed at Arthur.

 

“Bring him!” he ordered. “Take him on deck!” The door was opened and two men went in, grabbed Arthur under his arms and dragged him out.

 

“Why are you taking him?” Alfred demanded. “Let him go!” Once again, he was ignored and Arthur was dragged out of sight. “Why are you doing this? On who's orders?”

 

“You'll find out in due time,” the leader replied and followed his men. Alfred went to the door of his cell and shook it hard but it stayed firm. He screamed his rage at his frustration of being unable to stop them from taking Arthur.

 

“Matthew,” he growled. “You said you could guess who's behind this. I think I can too.” Matthew nodded.

 

“There's only one person who would be insane enough to do something like this.” he agreed.

 

“But what's her plan for Arthur?”

 

* * *

 

It was an hour before the sailors came back for them and they were taken on deck to face their kidnapper to find that they were not wrong in their suspicions as Princess Erica stood on deck, looking out to sea with a smug look on her face. She turned as Alfred and Matthew were brought  over to her and she greeted them like they were willing guests.

 

“Prince Alfred,” she smiled. “Prince Matthew. So nice of you to join me.”

 

“You've gone too far, Erica!” Alfred declared. “Do you have any idea what my uncle will do once he knows what you've done. You could well have started a war and what have you done with Artie?”

 

“By the time your uncle realises,” Erica replied, ignoring Alfred's demand about Arthur. “We'll be married and our kingdoms will be joined so no war.” Matthew snorted.

 

“You're insane if you think that will work,” he said. “A forced marriage won't stop a war and you have to get Alfred to marry you in the first place.” Erica merely smiled.

 

“That's where you come in,” she replied and gave a signal. Matthew was pulled away from Alfred by some sailors and others restrained Alfred when he tried to go to Matthew's aid and Erica approached Alfred and stood in front of him. “Simply put, Prince Alfred....either you marry me or your twin brother, if that's who he really is, will join your precious Arthur.”

 

“Dead, at the bottom of the ocean.”

 

* * *

 

Arthur swam in the direction of Spades, thanking Princess Erica's ignorance of his true heritage that had saved Arthur and gave him the chance to get help, as unpleasant as his survival had been.

 

_Arthur was dragged on to the deck to find that they were at sea, a familiar sight for Arthur, just like the other sight of the last person in the world that he wanted to see. Princess Erica stood in the middle of the deck with a look of almost hatred on her face as she watched him dragged along the deck to face her. She grabbed his chin and forced him to look her in the eyes as she sneered at him._

 

“ _It's a pity you can't understand me,” she said, mockingly, the words falling on Arthur but meaning nothing. “I want you to know exactly why you're going to die. You dared to try and take Prince Alfred from me and nobody takes what's mine. NOBODY!” She gave Arthur's chin a hard, painful pinch before she released him. “Put it on his legs!”_

 

_Chains were wrapped around his ankles and a cannonball in a small net was attached to the end. At another signal from Princess Erica, Arthur was pulled to the railing. A sailor carried the cannonball on put it on the edge and Arthur was lifted and sat on the railing beside it._

 

“ _It's funny,” Erica chuckled. “You saved Prince Alfred from the sea and now you're going to die by it.” She put her hand on the cannonball._

 

“ _Goodbye, Sir Artie,” Princess Erica said. “It has not been a pleasure.” And she pushed the cannonball off the edge and into the water, pulling Arthur down with it. Arthur felt the brief rush of air before he was submerged in the salt-water as the cannonball pulled him down to the bottom of the sea, the cannonball hitting the sand with a soft, muted thud, the water flowing into Arthur's nostrils, into his lungs and Arthur began to get the true feeling of drowning._

 

_Arthur tried to dispel the water from his nasal passages but he had no air in his lungs to do so and nothing to replace the water but more water so he tried to stop more water from entering his body but his lungs were already burning from the effort and he was getting light-headed as he struggled as hard as he could to free himself and Arthur understood now why Matthew had suffered so many nightmares about it. He could not hold out any more and his lungs involuntarily tried to take a breath, taking in more water instead and a small part of Arthur's brain marvelled at the irony that Arthur was drowning in the very sea he had been born into._

 

_His vision was dimming now, his lungs on fire and his struggles getting weaker and darkness began to swallow him up._

 

_Then the mark on his chest blazed._

 

_Arthur's body began to glow and the coverings he wore burned away, along with his bindings and gag and the chains around his ankles melted and disintegrated as Arthur's legs fused back together and his feet morphed and fanned out into his tail fins. Slits appeared in his neck as his gills re-emerged and Arthur could 'breathe' again while his hands regrew their webbing._

 

_The glowing dimmed and Arthur floated in the water in his original mer form and he pulled water into his starved lungs where air had been required before and he felt the life giving liquid restore his strength. Then reality set in._

 

_Alfred and Matthew were still at the mercy at the insane Princess Erica and she had to be stopped!_

 

Arthur swam toward Conclave to summon the Jokers. He would need their help and that of his kingdom. It was the King's task to command the army but, until Alfred, if he chose to, became the king, that power was Arthur's and he was going to use it to save Alfred and Matthew.

 

Spades was going into battle.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FIGHT!....


	9. Here Comes The Bride!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bridezilla ahoy!.....

 

_**Chapter 9 : Here Comes The Bride!** _

 

King Alex wondered what was taking so long for Alfred to come and wondered if he was hiding so deeply with Arthur and Matthew that the guards were having trouble finding them. Now that Princess Erica was gone, he could turn his attention to working out a new treaty to present to King Voss and salvage the situation. If King Voss wished to cut ties with him ….. well, that was unfortunate but Alex did not think it would come to that.

 

Wondering how long it would take for Alfred to surface, Alex turned to the knock on his study door and called. “Come in!” The door opened and, instead of seeing his nephew, a soldier walked through the door, closed it and approached the king with a salute.

 

“My apologies, Your Majesty,” he said. “For interrupting you but I have concerning news.” Alex stood up from the chair he was sat in, he had a bad feeling about this.

 

“What news?!” he demanded. The soldier took a deep breath.

 

“We have been unable to find Prince Alfred, Prince Matthew or Sir Artie.” he replied. “We have, however, found evidence of foul play in the gardens. There are signs of a struggle and we found this in the shrubbery.” The soldier produced a sheathed dagger that looked like military issue and, there on the hilt, was the crest of Mertoris. Suddenly, Princess Erica's rapid departure made sense.

 

“Tell the navy to prepare a ship!” he ordered. “We have a kidnapping princess to capture!”

* * *

  

Arthur swam into Conclave and the summoning circle and began singing, praying that the Jokers would not take too long to answer but, like they were waiting for him, they were there almost immediately.

 

“Back to being a mer, Queen Arthur?” Gilbert commented. “Wunderbar! Although you should have called me to change you. Better than drowning.”

 

“It wasn't voluntary,” Arthur replied. “And we have a problem.” Arthur explained about Alfred's near-engagement and his unstable almost-fiancée, as well as the events leading to the kidnapping of himself, Alfred and Matthew and his attempted murder. Gilbert and Peter listened intently as Arthur revealed everything that had happened to him since he went ashore and, soon they understood the situation.

 

“Totally unawesome!” Gilbert declared. “And you want help from the Awesome Jokers?”

 

“Whatever help I can get,” Arthur replied. “And I need to get a message to my Jack to call out the Spadian army while I do what I can to delay the ship, we can't let them get away!”

 

“Don't worry,” Peter said. “We'll help you out and we'll get the Ace and the king back.”

 

“Ja,” Gilbert agreed. “Peter, you take a message to the Jack of Spades while the Queen and I go and stop this unawesome kidnapping and put this land-dwelling shark in her place.”

* * *

 

Alfred and Matthew were separated and Alfred was dragged away to be prepared for the wedding while Matthew was taken back to the brig so Matthew could not tell Alfred what he suspected. That Arthur had been thrown into the sea to die and, as unpleasant as it would be for him, Arthur would not die but return to his normal state. That's if he was just thrown into the sea and not killed first but there was a good chance that Arthur was still alive.

 

He paced the brig, thinking what Arthur would do once he was freed. He would come back for Alfred and himself, bringing the Spadian army with him, of that Matthew was sure but he needed to buy time for Arthur to do so. Arthur would probably go for help to the Jokers too so what could Matthew do to delay things?

 

He looked around his cell but all it had was a pallet and a bucket to use as a chamber pot, just like the others, not much he could use so he examined the bars and the cell door itself, not revealing anything he could use until he examined the hinges. The way they were constructed, all he needed to do was lift the door high enough and the door would practically fall off by itself and there was a big enough gap between the badly-fitted door and the frame it did not fit but when he tried to lift the door it was too heavy for him. He needed some way to lift it.

 

He looked around again and, at first he could not see anything but then he noticed a length of rafter that was loose from the ceiling of his cell. He reached up and pulled, the rafter coming down a little so he pulled again with a little more strength and it came down further. Then Matthew put his whole weight on to it and the rafter broke away from the rest of the ceiling. Matthew examined the length of wood and found it to be sound and strong. It was the nails that had given way so Matthew had a lever to use on the door but now he needed some thing to use as a fulcrum. He looked around again and spotted the bucket. He grabbed it and put it by the door upside down. He put the rafter on top of it and pushed one end of it under the door.

 

Knowing he needed a lot of pressure to lift the door, Matthew put his foot on the other end of the rafter and stepped on to it, using his whole body weight to lift the door. The door raised up and, when it had lifted up to pull the hinge pins clear of the brackets, it began to fall and Matthew jumped out of the way to avoid being flattened by the heavy door as it crashed to the floor.

 

Matthew scrambled over the door and out of the cell, to get out of sight before the noise brought anyone running and to find a safe, out-of-the-way spot to plot his next move.

* * *

 

Alfred did nothing to resist the Mertorian servants who were dressing him for this forced wedding and just allowed himself to be pulled and prodded as they adjusted the wedding suit (that Princess Erica just happened to have brought with her, nothing premeditated or stalker-ish in that!). He just felt numb after Princess Erica made her little announcement of Artie's demise and now she held the brother that he had just got back. He had to find a way to free Matthew and make Erica pay for what she did to Artie and he only hoped it would not take long for Uncle Alex to discover that he and Matthew were missing and come after them. If he knew that Princess Erica had a hand in it.

 

“Finished, Your Highness,” the seamstress said and began to remove the jacket that she had been fitting to him. “I'll have the adjustments done within an hour.”

 

“Take as long as you like,” Alfred snapped. “Take years!” The seamstress curtsied, nervously, knowing full well that the Sea Prince of Altheia was not here of his own free will but she had no power to gainsay the Princess, although her heart went out to the Prince, and she left as quickly as possible but met the Princess on the way out.

 

“Have you not started yet?” she snapped. The seamstress curtsied to her mistress.

 

“I'm starting the adjustments now, Your Highness,” she replied while keeping her eyes low.

 

“Well, get on with it!” Erica replied, coldly. “I want to begin the ceremony as soon as possible!” The seamstress curtsied again and left quickly.

 

“Wow!” Alfred said. “You treat everyone like crap!” Erica turned her gaze to her.... ahem.....fiancé.

 

“Why such a bad mood?” she asked, as if this was a normal situation. “Cheer up, Alfred, this is our wedding day.”

 

“I wish it was your funeral,” Alfred muttered. Erica pouted.

 

“Alfred,” she whined. “How can you say that?” Alfred turned to glare at her, hostilely.

 

“You kidnapped me,” he accused. “You're threatening the life of my twin brother and you've murdered the one I actually wanted to marry. To say nothing of the fact that your obsessive and spoilt behaviour might start a war between Mertoris and Altheia! Do you seriously think that forcing a marriage will stop all that? You're a fool! A marriage won't stop anything and it's not just Altheia you'll have to answer to. When Spades finds out you've killed their ……”

 

“Why should I care about this Spades?” Erica sneered. “I've never heard of it, it probably doesn't exist.”

 

“Oh, it exists,” Alfred said with confidence. “So does Vynlande and I know you've heard of that. I don't think your brother's gonna be too pleased with this can of worms you've opened. Three kingdoms declaring war on Mertoris and that doesn't include any allies Spades might have. If you care about Mertoris at all, you'll turn the ship around and take us back to Altheia. Although, how you'll make peace with the Kingdom of Spades for murdering one of their rulers is another matter....”

 

“You're just trying to scare me out of this marriage,” Erica interrupted. “Well, it won't work. And if you don't go through with the ceremony, your brother will join _Sir Artie_ in the ocean but, as he's your brother, I'll be a little more merciful. I'll have his throat cut before I have him thrown into the sea so he doesn't suffer drowning.” She turned and walked back to the door and opened it.

 

“Just think of your brother's life as my wedding gift to you,” she smirked and left, locking the door.

 

* * *

 

Yao swam through the Coral Palace, wondering how Matthew was doing in his search for Arthur and the next King and thinking of the dressing down he would give Arthur when he arrived back in the palace. He was just thinking of a particular series of phrases to convey his displeasure when he almost collided with a small mer. He almost yelled at the young child until he realised that it was the Black Joker.

 

“Your eminence!” he exclaimed. “What brings you here, aru?”

 

“A message from the Queen of Spades,” Peter replied. “He orders that you mobilise the army. The Ace and the next King are in danger.”

* * *

 

Matthew had found some clothes that would make him look like a member of the crew and he tied a bandanna around his hair to hide the blonde and snuck on to the deck. No one paid any attention to an extra crewman but Matthew ducked behind the anchor wheel when Princess Erica came out on deck and a soldier ran across the deck to report something bad to her.

 

“Your Highness,” he said. “Prince Matthew has escaped. Somehow, he managed to lever the door of his cell off its hinges and he's disappeared.”

 

“Well, find him!” she snapped. “This is a ship, he can't be far. We need to find him before the ceremony, he's my only way of controlling Prince Alfred. I don't know how you'll do it and I don't care but find him now! I'm going to get ready for the ceremony.”

 

* * *

 

Matthew had to get out of view quickly as he would be spotted if he stayed where he was and he looked up at the rigging that went up to the crossbar of the main mast. That gave him a hiding place and an idea to slow the ship down and he made his way to the rigging and began to climb up to the main mast. When he reached the top, he made his way carefully across the crossbar to the crow's nest on the main mast and a man, wearing a cork hat in the crow's nest looked round at him.

 

“What are you doing up here?” he said. Matthew climbed into the Crow's nest beside him.

 

“Checking the sails,” he replied. “There might be some damage.”

 

“From what?” the man asked and he was rendered unconscious by a punch from Matthew.

 

“Me,” he replied and he took off his bandanna and put on the man's hat. He took his bandanna and used it to tie the man's hands together and gagged him with a handkerchief he found in the man's pocket, put him on the floor of the Crow's Nest and sat there, waiting for the perfect moment.

 

* * *

 

Alfred was stuffed into the wedding suit that Erica had brought for him to wear and pulled on deck where Erica was waiting in a wedding dress, in front of a priest (she was certainly prepared). Alfred was brought up to stand beside Erica who smiled at him like a normal blushing bride and not a kidnapper, orchestrating a shotgun wedding and then she turned and nodded to the priest.

 

“We are gathered here today,” the priest began. “To witness the marriage of......”

 

“Where's Matthew?” Alfred demanded. Erica cursed that the so-called twin had not been found but she was hoping that she would be able to push through with the ceremony without Alfred knowing that Matthew had escaped.

 

“In the brig,” she lied. “So don't make a fuss and he'll stay safe and well.” She nodded to the priest again.

 

“The marriage of.....” he began again but, once again, Alfred butted in.

 

“I don't believe you!” he declared. “Prove it, bring him on deck!” Erica had to think fast.

 

“Continue this, Alfred,” she hissed. “And I'll have his corpse brought up.” Alfred just smirked.

 

“Then you wouldn't have any hold on me,” he replied. “I think you won't bring Matthew up because you don't have him, do you? He got away!” The look Erica tried to hide told Alfred everything.

 

“Way to go, bro!” Alfred cheered but Erica was not giving up that easily and she indicated to two soldiers who grabbed Alfred by his arms.

 

“With or without that fake brother of yours,” she snapped. “This wedding will go ahead and you will marry m......” There was a sound above them, a ruffling and flapping noise and everyone looked up at the main sail that was flapping in the wind as a figure moved across the crossbar, cutting the ropes holding the sail and letting it fall free. When there was not enough rope holding the weighty canvas, the sail ripped free and fell down toward the deck. The soldiers let go of Alfred to escape the falling canvas and he ran as well.

 

He jumped and rolled across the deck, the canvas missing him by inches and he was sorry to see that Princess Erica had been missed as well, pulled out of the way by one of her guards and Alfred looked up at the figure on the crossbar, a head of blonde hair blowing in the wind and he knew exactly where his brother was as Matthew scrambled to the edge of the crossbar and began to descend the rigging and Alfred ran to meet him.

 

“Nice work, Mattie!” he said as Matthew made it to the deck but now, the sailors and guards had recovered from the shock of the sail almost landing on them. But without the main sail, the ship was no longer moving as fast as it had been so Matthew and Alfred had to find a way to stay out of Mertorian hands until help could get to them but it was two against who knew how many.

 

The odds were not good.

 

* * *

 

Arthur and Gilbert swam in the direction that Arthur knew the ship had been in and began swimming on the surface to keep the ship in sight which was in the distance but they were making slow progress catching up but then, the ship seemed to lose speed and Arthur and Gilbert began to gain on the ship. As they got closer, they saw that the ship seemed to be missing a sail and soon, they were swimming alongside the vessel and they began to climb up ropes that were hanging down the side of the ship.

 

* * *

 

Alfred and Matthew stood shoulder to shoulder and Matthew had passed the knife to Alfred as he was not well versed with fighting with one and move to hand-to-hand combat. Alfred had been trained in most forms of combat and, although he would have preferred a sword, he knew how to used the knife. Princess Erica ordering them to be taken alive also helped as their opponents hesitated to use deadly force.

 

Alfred had taken down another sailor, injuring him just enough to take him out of the fight but, as soon as he dropped, another two took his place. Matthew took on the unarmed combatants and used his legs a lot, giving powerful kicks to anyone who got too close. Mers tended to use their tails a lot in combat, hitting each other as they wrestled to get the upper hand and Matthew adapted this particular form of combat to his legs which, in the lower resistance of air, rather than water, were quite powerful, as anyone unfortunate enough to be hit by them could attest.

 

But they were two men against a whole ship of sailors and guards and it all came crashing down when a sailor used a net to block a kick from Matthew and tangled him up in it. Without his twin backing him up, Alfred was soon overwhelmed and the fight was over. Matthew was dragged over to Princess Erica by the railing and held by one of her guards with a knife to his throat while Erica held a pistol that she pointed at Alfred.

 

“Now, now, Prince Alfred,” she said. “You've had your fun, now it's time to behave. If you don't want your brother to die!”

 

“Kill Matthew and there will be war!” Alfred replied. “I guarantee it!” Something caught his eye at the railing, a webbed hand rose over the railing and grabbed it and another came into view and grabbed hold of a rope nearby and a blonde head appeared.

 

“Just do as you're told!” she snapped and pointed the gun away from Alfred and at Matthew's head. “You might believe that this man is your brother but I don't believe that he _is_ Prince Matthew so I will shoot him if you continue to challenge me.” And, for emphasis, she pulled back the hammer on the pistol.

 

Only to be slapped in the face by something hard and wet, knocking her over the railing and sending her, screaming into the sea below.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let battle commence …...


	10. Battle For The Mer King

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle begins …

 

_**Chapter 10 : Battle For The Mer King** _

 

 

Arthur and Gilbert struggled up the side of the ship, as they could only used their arms and their tails were quite weighty out of the water but a lifetime of swimming made them strong so they would be able to make it to the railing. They were halfway up when Gilbert stopped and cocked his head.

 

“What is it?” Arthur asked, as quietly as possible for a mer. Gilbert said nothing for a moment and then turned to Arthur.

 

“Peter's on his way with the Jack and the Spadian army,” Gilbert replied. “They should be with us soon.”

 

“Good,” Arthur replied. “We need all the help we can get.” And they continued to climb the ropes as they heard the sound of fighting on deck and Arthur worried for Alfred and Matthew. Just before they reached the top, the sound of fighting stopped and he could hear Princess Erica's voice. He could not understand what was being said but he recognised Alfred's name. He caught hold of a handful of rigging ropes and pulled his head above the railing to see what was happening.

 

Princess Erica had her back to him and, beside her was a guard who had Matthew entangled in a net and a blade at his throat. Princess Erica had a pistol pointed at Alfred and that worried Arthur as much as the blade at his Ace's neck. He had seen such things being used at the castle, by soldiers practising their marksmanship and he had seen some shoot at clay pots and watched them shatter. He shuddered to think what they could do to flesh so he had to stop Erica before she could use that thing on anyone but the moment anyone tried any kind of move, Arthur believed Matthew's throat would be cut so Erica had to be stopped and Matthew had to be freed at the same time.

 

“Joker Gilbert,” he said, trying to whisper so that his clicks and squeals could not be heard. “I need help to free the Ace while I deal with the land-dweller princess.”

 

“Don't worry,” Gilbert replied. “The Awesome me will free Ace Matthew. You stop the land-dweller hag.” And they got into position........

 

As Arthur got a firm grip on the ropes, Erica spoke again and turned the pistol to aim it at Matthew and, while Arthur was glad it was not aimed at Alfred any more, Matthew was not any better. Arthur shuddered to think what a pistol would do to Matthew's head. He looked at Gilbert who was ready to pounce and he nodded.

 

With a burst of strength, Arthur gripped the rope hard and swung over the railing and round, his tail catching Princess Erica in the face with the end, smacking her back against the railing and she dropped the pistol, her feet flying over her head as she fell over the railing and disappeared with a scream. At the same time, Gilbert had leapt over the railing and on to the guard holding Matthew, forcing the blade away from the Ace's neck before bending his red tail round and hitting the guard with the powerful appendage, knocking the man unconscious.

 

Alfred was stunned at what he had just seen. When he recognised the blonde head appearing over the railing as Arthur, his heart soared. _Arthur was alive!_ He held on to the ropes of a small piece of rigging and pulled himself up further and Alfred saw something on his neck that he had not seen before, three slits on either side and the hands holding the ropes were webbed. A movement on the other side of the rigging caught his eye and he flickered his eyes to see a male with white hair and red/pinkish eyes, also with slits in his neck and he was braced to move. It was what had happen next that took his breath away.

 

In a simultaneous attack, the white haired man leapt over the railing and crashed into the guard holding Matthew while Arthur swung himself round through the air in a blue blur and caught Princess Erica in the face, making her drop the pistol aimed at Matthew's head and sending her, shrieking over the railing before he fell to the deck. The white-haired guy had knocked out the guard, freeing Matthew and that was when he had time to notice the real change to Arthur.

 

Arthur was completely nude, salt-water drops running off his shoulders to his lower back, on to the blue scales that covered his lower body that was now one long tail, instead of two skin-covered legs. A tail that ended in a fanfare of delicate looking membranes and a dorsal fin that ran down the back from where the tail began at Arthur's lower back and joined the explosion of the caudal fin at the bottom. Alfred thought Arthur had been a vision of beauty before but now ……

 

Arthur had become Alfred's angelfish.

 

But real life intruded. The ship's crew were closing in and the fight was not over as Arthur and the white haired man with a red tail, now Alfred had noticed, used their strong arms and powerful tails to put themselves between the two twins and their opponents, their chest swelling and Matthew knew what was coming.

 

“Alfred!” he called, pressing his hand against the sides of his head. “Cover your ears!” Alfred put his hands over his ears, just in time as Arthur and his companion let loose. Despite Alfred's ears being protected by his palms, what came forth from the two mer's mouths was still enough to cause pain.

 

One mer's war cry was enough to give pause to any enemy but mers were capable of harmonising their voices with allies to boost the strength of their cries and Arthur and Gilbert altered their voices until they matched and their voices issued one supercharged war cry that drove back the crew as the screeching sound pierced their eardrums and drilled into their heads. Alfred and Matthew were a little more protected, being behind the two mers and the sound being directed toward the crew and away from them but still, that hurt!

 

The crew moved as far away as they could from the strange creatures, that had suddenly appeared in their midst, and their unholy screeching but they could only screech for so long. Arthur and Gilbert would need help.

 

And soon.

 

* * *

 

A mile away, a school of Spadian mers glided through the water, all with their arms adorned by coral bracelets and led by a mer with three coral bracelets on his arm, his blonde hair flowing backwards as he sped through the sea, his green eyes keeping an eye out for danger, as was part of the pod that was surrounding the only member of the royal pod left in Spades. Jack Yao swam beside the warrior, along with the Black Joker as he guided them toward the land-dweller vessel that was holding the Queen, the Ace and the next King. It would not take them long to swim the distance but who knew what they would face when they got to the ship.

 

“I suggest you stay back until we secure the vessel, my Jack,” Lars said, looking toward Yao as they swam side by side. “We can't have all the royals at risk.”

 

“I can fight,” Yao protested. All mer royals were trained in combat in order to protect themselves, when needed. “We must retrieve the Queen and Ace and secure the King as well, aru.”

 

“I understand,” Lars replied. “But we can't risk.....”

 

They broke off as a ripple moved through the water from the direction of the land-dweller vessel and every mer warrior knew what it was. A war cry. Weaker then normal but undoubtedly a mer's battle weapon.

 

“We have to hurry,” Peter said, swimming harder. “The Queen and the Red Joker are fighting and they need re-enforcements so let's leave the argument for later.”

 

The rest of the pod swam harder to catch up to the young mer and to reach their missing royals in time.

 

* * *

 

Coming after the Mertorian ship, the Altheian royal ship,  _Nordic_ sped through the waves at full sail in order to catch up with the vessel carrying the king's kidnapped nephews and the Spadian Queen. Captain Matthias stood on the deck with King Alex and Prince Jason by his side as he looked at the horizon through his spy glass, looking for the 'enemy' ship. It always amazed Alex how Captain Matthias Kohler could keep his hair that spiky when out at sea. Matthias took the spy glass away from his blue eyes

 

“Not in sight yet,” he reported and he looked up at the crow's nest and shouted. “Emil! Any sign up there.” There was a better view from the crow's nest, the lookout could see further but a white blonde head looked down at the captain and shouted back.

 

“No ship yet, Captain!”

 

“Well, we can't be far from them now, keep looking!”

 

“Aye, Captain!” Matthias turned back to the King. “We'll catch up soon, Your Majesty, they didn't have that much of a head start and I saw their vessel, it's not as fast as ours.” Matthias's first mate, an emotionless looking man called Lukas Bondevik came to stand beside him.

 

“Berwald have the men prepared for a boarding the vessel when we catch them, Captain,” he informed. “And Tino has sickbay ready.”

 

“Good,” Matthias replied. “We'll have to hit fast and decisive to secure the safety of Princes Alfred and Matthew, as well as Sir Arthur. It would be good if we capture the Mertorian Princess at the first opportunity. Get her and they'll have no choice but to surrender.”

 

“Let's hope everything goes that smoothly,” Jason replied. “I don't want to lose my cousins, I've only just got one back.”

 

“And there could be diplomatic repercussions if anything happens to Sir Arthur,” King Alex added.

 

“I understand, Your Majesty,” Matthias replied. “And their safe recovery is my crew's first concern, I assure you. We'll do whatever we have to, to retrieve them with as minimal risk as possible.”

 

“That's good to hear,” Alex said and then, a shout came from the crow's nest.

 

“SHIP AHOY!”

 

* * *

 

Princess Erica had no idea what hit her and only had a brief, terrifying moment of falling before she hit the ocean and went under the salty brine. She struggled back to the surface but was hindered by the floating skirt of the wedding dress that was entangling her legs. When she broke the surface, she knew she had to remove the material or it would drag her back down.

 

Fortunately for her, her wedding gown was made up of two pieces and she fought to undo the skirt and struggled out of it, leaving her in bloomers, a petticoat and the top as she swam to the side of the ship and grabbed a trailing rope to climb up. That was when she heard the screeching.

 

 _What is that?!_ She wondered, wincing against the pain and almost loosing her grip on the rope. Because she was hanging on the side of the ship and not on deck, she was a little protected from the sonic attack but it still _hurt!_

 

She hung on, screaming at the pain in her ears from the sound as the attack went on for moments that felt like minutes before it fell away. After recovering, Erica began to ascend the rope.

 

* * *

 

Arthur and Gilbert could only hold the war cry for so long and, eventually it faded as they ran out of breath but the crew was still in shock from the unexpected attack. Alfred and Matthew were more prepared so, while the crew were pulling themselves together, they were on their feet and arming themselves, preparing to defend the two mers against the land-dweller crew.

 

They now stood in front of Arthur and Gilbert with swords they picked up from where they had been dropped by crew trying to escape the ear-damaging noise, as the crew shook themselves back to reality and were returning to apprehend the Altheian royals. Matthew copied Alfred's stance but he was not confident of his ability to use a sword as he had never been trained with such weapons as mers primarily used their voices, hands and tails to fight, the voice and tail being out of Matthew's reach for now.

 

The crew got closer as Alfred and Matthew brandished their swords at them to keep them at bay but no one noticed Princess Erica pull herself over the railing. She took a few moments to catch her breath before looking up and her eyes widened at the sight of Arthur as a mer, his long tail curling around on the deck beside another white-haired man with a red tail.

 

This was who had taken Alfred from her ….. this _FREAK_ _!_ She would ask herself why he was not dead but the answer was before her. He was a creature of myth and had twisted his spell around her Alfred's heart and  her eyes fell on the pistol she had dropped when she was knocked into the sea by Arthur, she picked it up and she aimed it at Arthur's unprotected back.

 

She smiled at the thought that the freak did not know what was coming and suddenly heard a loud clicking noise as she prepared to fire, only to be brought down again as something landed on her from behind and when she recovered and looked up, the crew and ship were being over run by blue-tailed people.

 

* * *

 

Upon reaching the ship, Lars and his warriors crawled up the sides and he peered over the railing to see a lot of land dwellers surrounding two other land-dwellers who were stood in front of the Queen and the Red Joker and then Lars realised that they were protecting them. They were desperately out-numbered and it was time to change that.

 

“ATTACK!” he called and his warriors threw themselves over the railing and on to the crew who were taken by surprise. One warrior landed on a female land-dweller in his haste to reach the Spadian royals and keep them safe. Several mer surrounded the group and Alfred and Matthew covered their ears again as war cries began to sound around the ship as the mers began to subdue the crew.

 

* * *

 

“We're catching up rather quickly,” Matthias was a little surprised but not about to look a gift horse in the mouth and he looked through his spy glass. “That's strange! The main sail hasn't been ….no, wait! It's missing!”

 

“Missing?” King Alex commented. “How can it be missing?” Matthias lowered the spy glass.

 

“Something must have happened,” he replied. “But it explains how we've caught up so fast. LUKAS!” Lukas came up to Matthias. “Get the men ready to fight. We'll be boarding the vessel sooner than we thought and I want everything prepared.”

 

“Yes, Captain,” Lukas replied and went to get everything ready for the sea battle that was bound to ensue while Matthias put the spy glass to his eye again and looked at the ship they were pursuing which was closer now and eyes widened at what he was seeing.

 

“What on earth....?!” he spluttered as he could see what was happening on board.

 

“What is it?” Jason asked.

 

“The Mertorian ship's being over run by giant, blue fish,” Matthias replied, hoping it did not sound as mad to the royal's ears as it did to his.

 

* * *

 

The crew were falling to the Spadian mer army who were no match for so many mers or their war cries and Alfred and Matthew, surrounded by mer warriors, defended the Queen of Spades while the Red Joker joined the battle but no one thought about Princess Erica who had picked up the pistol and had aimed at Arthur's back again but she wanted the abomination to know who would kill it and why.

 

“Goodbye, Fish Freak!” she said, giving Arthur long enough to turn and see her pointing the pistol right at him and she began to squeeze the trigger.

 

* * *

 

The fight was winding down as the amount of crew left to fight fell. By a miracle, none of the crew had died but many were injured with fractured bones, cracked by powerful blows from muscular mer tails and some of the crew, not as fighting fit as some had escaped injury by surrendering from the war cries alone. When the last of the crew surrendered, the mer gave a victory cry.

 

A cry that was punctuated by a shot.

 

A pistol shot!

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHAT....JUST....HAPPENED?!


	11. Long Live The King!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where were we?....Oh yeah...The pistol shot.....

 

_**Chapter 11 : Long Live The King!** _

 

 

“ _Goodbye, Fish Freak!”_

 

Both Alfred and Matthew turned at the sound of Princess Erica and found her pointing a pistol at Arthur who was looking up at her in shock and Matthew beat Alfred to tackling Erica, his training kicking in to defend his fellow royal and Queen. He seized Erica's arm and forced the pistol away from Arthur and into the air and he and the Princess struggled with more strength than anyone would think her body would hold while Alfred stood in front to protect Arthur, should Erica make it past Matthew.

 

“Let me go, you pretender!” she hissed in Matthew's face. “I'll kill you and that abomination. Alfred was mine until you came!” Matthew did not answer her and continued to struggle with Erica's pistol arm waving about at random and her finger tightened on the trigger.

 

The pistol fired. It could have gone anywhere, harmlessly into the sky where it could do no harm or through a sail or into wood but it went where it could cause a lot of damage and set off a chain reaction.

 

The pistol shot flew into the air and ripped into a rope, running through a pulley and holding it up, severing most of the strands and the weight snapped the others, releasing the pulley. Swinging on its rope, the pulley flew down and caught Alfred with a glancing blow on the side of his head, knocking him back and he hit the railing. As he fell over the side, darkness crowded in and he was not even conscious when he hit the water.

 

“ALFRED!” Matthew cried out, pushing Erica away to try and reach his brother but, with a screech, Arthur used his powerful tail to propel himself over the railing, diving into the water after Alfred, who had already disappeared beneath the waves. Arthur hit the water and dove down, looking for his beloved king. The water was darker here and made it harder to see, even for a mer and Arthur strained to see anything in the depths. Then he saw a shadowy figure drifting in the distance and swam down toward it.

 

* * *

 

Matthew ran to the railing in time to see Arthur's fanfare tail vanish into the water as he dove after Alfred and Matthew was about to dive in after him when a shadow fell over him and he looked round to see another ship pull alongside them and more land-dwellers began to swing across ready for battle. Matthew had seen the Altheian flag flying on the other ship and he knew this was one of his uncle's vessels but the Spadian mers did not know that these were allies and were readying for another battle and Matthew had to stop this. He ran to put himself between the two groups.

 

“Stop, these are Queen Arthur's people!” he said to the land-dwellers and then turned to the mers. “ _Squeal click!_ (Stand down!).” Lars pulled himself forward.

 

“ _Ack Ma'ew?_ (Ace Matthew?),” he said in wonder at Matthew standing in front of him as a land-dweller. “ _Erk ick eel?_ (Is that you?).”

 

“ _Eck_ (Yes),” Matthew replied. “ _Urk erk ick squeal_ _ **whistle**_ _, Squeal click!_ (These are my uncle's forces, stand down!)” Lars turned and gave the order and the other mers lowered their battle stance but remained wary.

 

“Matthew, my boy!” Matthew heard his uncle's voice and turned to see that the  _Nordic_ was now fully alongside with planks between the two ships that his uncle and cousin were now traversing. “Thank goodness, you're alright! Where's Alfred and Queen Arthur?” Matthew grabbed his uncle's arm and pulled him to the opposite railing.

 

“Alfred was knocked into the water!” he exclaimed. “Arthur jumped in after him!” And they both looked down at the water, trying to see any sign of either of them. When Jason went to follow, a flash of white caught his eye and he spotted Princess Erica in her petticoat, trying to sneak away to hide and he ran to intercept her.

 

“Oh no, you don't!” he said. Erica shrieked and tried to pull away from him as he seized her arm.

 

“How dare you!” she screamed. “Get your hands off me!” but Jason began dragging her to the railing.

 

“You're not going anywhere!” he declared. “You've got a lot of explaining to do, _Your Highness!_ ” And they reached the railing and Jason looked down to try and spot any sign of his cousin or his beloved but there was nothing but the waves crashing against the side of the ship.

 

“Where are they?” Matthew whispered.

 

* * *

 

Yao had stayed in the water with the Black Joker and he was waiting for the signal that said the ship was under Spadian control, waiting to give Arthur the piece of his mind that he had been saving for him, for just disappearing the way that he did.

 

“Jack Yao!” Peter called out. “Look!” Yao looked at the young Joker, then looked to where Peter was pointing and he spotted Arthur swimming downwards, frantically on the other side of the ship. Yao swam after him with Peter trailing in his wake, his lecture forgotten as Arthur seemed desperate about something, if the way he was swimming was any indication.

 

As Arthur swam down to save Alfred, it briefly crossed his mind that, if he did nothing and let things be, Alfred would transform and they would have their king but he quickly discarded it. He had given his word that it would be Alfred's choice so he could not, in good conscience, just let Alfred drown so he swam hard, trying to reach Alfred and get him to the surface in time.

 

Alfred was coming closer but he was not moving. Having felt the effect of land-dweller drowning himself, Arthur was glad Alfred was unconscious so he was not experiencing it as he came within reach and Arthur wrapped his arms around his beloved and began swimming for the surface.

 

“Arthur!” he heard Yao's voice but he did not stop swimming, although he did look toward the Jack as he swam toward him. “What are you doing, aru?”

 

“I have to get Alfred to the surface,” Arthur replied as he propelled himself and Alfred upward. “He's drowning!”

 

“Is this the next King of Spades?” Peter asked, swimming up alongside them. He had spotted the close resemblance between the blonde land-dweller and Matthew and a gash in the blonde's head that was leaking blood into the water. Clearly, something bad had happened to the land-dweller. “Arthur, if this is the next king, you have to let him drown.”

 

“NO!” Arthur replied, vehemently. “I promised that it would be Alfred's decision. I can't let it happen like this!” And he flicked his powerful tail toward the surface and the ship.

 

* * *

 

Gilbert had joined the royal land-dwellers and Matthew at the railing and they had been joined by Lars, Matthias, Lukas and Berwald as they all looked down at the water below, unable to see anything below the murky brine and they were wondering what was going on under the ocean.

 

“This is too long!” Jason worried as he held on to Princess Erica. If Alfred died, she would be held responsible and the diplomatic relationship between Altheia and Mertoris would plummet. This could lead to war!

 

“Sir Arthur wouldn't let Alfred drown, would he?” Alex asked Matthew. “We know Alfred needs to drown to become the King of Spades and this is the perfect opportunity to allow that.” Matthew shook his head.

 

“Arthur gave his word,” he replied. “If Arthur can get Alfred to the surface in time, that's what he'll do. He promised it would be Alfred's decision.”

 

“Wait!” Matthias called. “I see something!” There were four shapes, heading for the surface and they were coming closer. Then three blonde heads and one brunette broke the surface, one of the blondes was unconscious and missing his glasses.

 

“ALFRED!” Alex called but there was no reply, no flicker that Alfred even heard him and Alex feared that his nephew was dead. Arthur, who was holding Alfred in the water, turned to look at Alfred and gave him a little shake, clicking at him and trying to wake him up. When that did not work, Arthur began to sing.

 

Then something beneath Alfred's shirt began glowing.

 

* * *

 

Arthur pulled Alfred up through the water and they surfaced with a splash with Yao and Peter surfacing beside them and looked up at the ship when he heard King Alex's voice call to Alfred, to see everyone looking down at them. They had made it to the surface and Arthur turned to Alfred who was still unmoving in Arthur's arms. He did not seemed to be breathing and Arthur gave him a shake.

 

“Alfred,” he said, trying to get a reaction from Alfred but he remained unresponsive. Arthur realised that Alfred had been under water too long for him to recover by himself and he needed Arthur's help and Arthur began to sing the healing song. Then the King's mark on Alfred's chest began to glow and Yao realized that Alfred was too far gone to be healed and began pulling Arthur off and away from Alfred.

 

“It's too late!” he said as Arthur struggled to hold on to Alfred. “He's transforming! You must let go, aru!” Yao managed to get Arthur's arms from around Alfred and pulled him away, just before Alfred's whole body began to glow and sank back beneath the waves.

 

* * *

 

Alex, Jason, Matthew and Gilbert watched as Arthur was pulled away from Alfred and the glow on Alfred's chest spread to his whole body and he disappeared back beneath the waves.

 

“Why are they letting him go?!” Alex demanded in distress. “Why don't they save him?!” Matthew put his hand on his uncle's shoulder.

 

“It's too late.” he replied. “Alfred's transforming, there's no stopping it now!” Arthur followed Alfred down but they could only see the glow beneath the sea, shimmering under the waves but they could not see anything else. The glow faded and they waited to see if Alfred and Arthur would surface but there was no sign of them.

 

“Did it fail?” Jason asked, worried. If it failed then that meant Alfred had ….. No! Jason could not think that way.

 

“Why aren't they coming back up?” Alex demanded. “What's wron.....” He was interrupted as something erupted from the water.

 

* * *

 

_A few moments earlier...…_

 

_Arthur could not let Alfred go through this alone so he dove down to stay with Alfred as he changed and watched as Alfred's clothes disintegrated, as his glasses would have, had they not fallen off during the fall from the ship. The glowing light grew brighter around his lower body as his legs began to fuse into one and his feet became a long caudal fin that fell down from the main tail in two long sections. Slits opened up in Alfred's neck and became gills and skin grew in between his fingers to form webbed hands. Arthur could not help but gaze at the handsome mer Alfred had become as Alfred finally began to take breaths again and he slowly opened his eyes._

 

“ _Alfred!” Arthur called. “Alfred!”_

 

_The last thing Alfred remembered was hearing a pistol shot and then a sharp pain in his head, accompanied by a feeling of falling before blackness enclosed him. Now he could see a glow of light through his eyelids and his eyes slid open. He could see Arthur through the glow and he looked like he was calling Alfred's name, although Alfred could not hear him. His body felt strange and light, as if floating and then the glow faded._

 

“ _Alfred!” Alfred could hear Arthur now and he was saying his full name properly._

 

“ _Artie!” Alfred replied and then he noticed that Arthur's hair was drifting around his head, the strands floating in a strange way and then Alfred noticed that Arthur was upright and he looked down and Arthur was floating, his beautiful tail shifting from side to side and that was when Alfred realised that he was surrounded by water._

 

_Alfred panicked for a moment, his fear of the ocean preventing him from realising that he was breathing in the water and began to thrash his arms in an effort to make it to the surface and Arthur caught his arms and pulled him in for a comforting hug._

 

“ _It's alright, Alfred,” he crooned to the newly created mer and pulled away. “Look down.” Alfred looked down and saw that he no longer had legs but a blue tail that was even longer than Arthur's. He looked at his hands in wonder at the webbing between his fingers and then realised that his eyesight was not blurry but he was not wearing his glasses._

 

“ _I'm a merman!” he said in shock. Arthur smiled, moved in to cup Alfred's cheek and he kissed him._

 

“ _A very handsome merman,” he said, wrapping his arms around his king and intertwined their tails and kissed him again, Arthur's hand over the King's mark on Alfred's chest._

 

“ _I can understand you!” Alfred just realised. “How can I understand you?”_

 

“ _It's part of the transformation,” Arthur replied. “How could you lead a mer Kingdom if you couldn't understand Mer?” Arthur continued to hold Alfred._

 

“ _I'm sorry, Alfred,” he said. “I tried to get you to the surface after you were knocked into the sea and I tried to heal you but it was too lat.....” Alfred put a finger on Arthur's lips to silence him._

 

“ _It's alright, Artie,” he said. “I don't remember drowning so it was probably better this way. I'm not sure I could have managed it any other way so this was probably a blessing and now I get to be with you.” Arthur ran one of his hands through Alfred's floating hair._

 

“ _My King,” he sighed and they kissed again. When they broke the kiss, Arthur rested his forehead against Alfred's shoulder. “They're probably wondering why we haven't surfaced yet. They'll be worrying.”_

 

“ _Then we better put in an appearance,” Alfred grinned as he let Arthur go, took his hand and they began to swim to the surface. The movement of his new tail felt a little weird but he soon got the hang of it. Then Alfred stopped and mused for a moment before he grinned at Arthur._

 

“ _I think my first appearance as a mer should be special,” he said. Arthur had an idea what Alfred had planned._

 

“ _You know,” he replied. “When I found you, I had no idea you were going to be such a dolphin!”_

 

“ _Dolphin?” Alfred asked._

 

“ _Yes, dolphin,” Arthur said. “They're always leaping out of the water and flipping in the air.”_

 

“ _If you mean show-off,” Alfred replied. “Then come on, show off with me! We'll be King and Queen Show-off together.” Arthur laughed._

 

“ _Come on,” Alfred coaxed. “Live a little.” Arthur gave Alfred a grin as Alfred took his hand and they swam as fast as they could to the surface._

 

* * *

 

The mers and land-dwellers stared in wonder as two blue tailed mer leapt out of the water and into the air, turning a somersault in the air before falling back down into the water. Alfred and Arthur laughed and hugged beneath the water before rising back to the surface and Yao and Peter swam up to them.

 

“You pair of dolphins!” Yao scolded before turning to greet Alfred with a bow of his head. “It's wonderful to finally meet you, My King, I am Jack Yao of Spades, aru.”

 

“Nice to meet ya, Yao,” Alfred replied. “But I think we need to tie up some loose ends before I actually take the position and my uncle would like to meet with you to discuss diplomatic relations between Spades and Altheia. But first, we have to deal with Princess Erica.”

 

“Alfred!” Alfred looked up at his brother who was looking down at him from the ship with, Alfred noted with surprise, his uncle and cousin. Jason was holding on to Princess Erica's arm as she was staring down at them in shock. The white-haired mer was looking over the rail too and he had been joined by a blonde mer and two land-dwellers that Alfred recognised as Captain Matthias Kohler and his first mate, Lukas Bondevik.

 

“Alfred, are you alright?” Matthew shouted down to him.

 

“I'm fine, Mattie,” Alfred called back but what came out of his mouth was _Ack erk, Ma'e._ Fortunately, Matthew and the other mers understood Alfred but, unfortunately, the land-dwellers did not.

 

“What did he say?” Alex asked, realising that Alfred had transformed and could only speak Mer now.

 

“He said he's fine,” Matthew translated. “He can understand us but he can't speak land-dweller any more.” Princess Erica shrieked.

 

“I knew that abomination meant harm to my Alfred!” she declared. “Look at him! That thing has turned Alfred into a freak like him!” Matthew turned on her.

 

“Arthur did nothing!” he declared. “Alfred has become what he was always meant to be, the King of Spades! And never insult my Queen like that again!”

 

“Queen?!” Erica said, shocked but Matthew ignored her after that and threw a cargo net down the side of the ship for the mers to come on board.

 

Alfred gripped the net and began to pull himself out of the water followed by Arthur, Yao and Peter. All four flopped on to the deck with the land-dwellers staring in awe at Alfred's new tail. Yao turned to all the mer warriors on the ship and held up Alfred's hand and said something in Mer and the warriors gave a loud celebratory cheer.

 

“Yao just announced Alfred as the new King of Spades,” Matthew translated. “We've been waiting for him for a long time.”

 

“So these mers are happy about that,” Alex said, not as a question.

 

“This is nothing compared to how the whole kingdom will react,” Matthew grinned. “And I can't wait for the Next Conclave.”

 

* * *

 

It was decided to return to Altheia, to clear everything up, deal with Princess Erica and for diplomatic talks of the future between Spades and Altheia and they were already in sight of land. All the mers went back into the water, including Alfred who wanted to practise swimming with his new tail but Matthew stayed in land-dweller form to act as interpreter between the humans and the mers. Princess Erica had been confined to her cabin and the crew in the crew quarters while half of the crew of the _Nordic_ , under the command of First Mate Bondevik, took control of the vessel to sail it back into harbour.

 

“How are you going to deal with Mertoris over this?” Jason asked his father as he, Alex and Matthew stood at the bow of the ship. “We can't let a kidnapping of an Altheian royal and the attempted murder of a visiting dignitary pass. On the other hand …..”

 

“Accusing the royal of another kingdom carries its own diplomatic issues,” Alex completed. “To say nothing of keeping Queen Arthur and the other mers a secret. It will require some hard thought.” They were sailing toward the mouth of the harbour now.

 

“It seems we've brought a lot of trouble to your door, Uncle,” Matthew commented. “I'm sorry.”

 

“Oh, my boy,” Alex replied, putting an arm around Matthew and pulling his nephew in for a hug. “This trouble brought you back to us, I don't regret a moment. We'll find a way through this and find a way to explain Princess Erica's actions to her brother, King Voss and, somehow deal with this. Then we can work on a treaty with Spades so we can still see you and Alfred.”

 

“We better find that way fast, Dad,” Jason said, as the ship made it's way into the dock. “Because we have a visitor.”

 

There, by the quayside, a ship was in dock. Another royal vessel, flying the Mertorian flag and the colours of the Mertorian royal family.

 

King Voss had arrived.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Diplomatic complications ahead …..


	12. Loose Ends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> King Voss will not be happy when he finds out what's been happening …...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is a week late. I've had a bad cold and other family dramas have been happening but here we go. Hope you like...

 

_**Chapter 12 : Loose Ends** _

 

King Voss was immediately aware of a problem when his ship was moored dockside as many people on the dock were casting glances at his vessel, some with worry and some with disapproval and he wondered at such a reaction as he stepped down the gangplank in his maroon robes. He had come in search of his sister, who had somehow commandeered a ship without his permission when his back was turned, to follow Prince Alfred of Altheia back to his own kingdom and he realised that he could not see the ship in dock. A servant went to supervise the off-loading of the royal carriage to take him to the castle and, while his entourage waited, Voss spotted the odd glance being thrown in the blonde king's direction, and not in a visiting royal kind of way. He was glad when the carriage was ready and they were on their way to the castle.

 

King Voss was detecting an atmosphere in the castle when he arrived and it was not just because he was unexpected. No one was disrespectful but there was a certain....tone to the way the servants attended to him and he had the feeling that something had happened. Something that involved Erica.

 

The butler braced himself for another encounter with a Mertorian royal. True, this was only the second one he had met but Princess Erica was hardly a pleasant experience, he could only hope that her brother, the King was a little easier to deal with. Without instructions on how to treat other visiting Mertorian royals in the face of Princess Erica's actions, the butler fell back on his training and greeted the Mertorian King as he would any other visiting royal until King Alex returned and decided what to do.

 

“Greetings, Your Majesty,” the butler bowed. “Welcome to Altheia. I trust your journey was a safe one?” Voss was rather surprised that he was not greeted by any of the royals but the reason became apparent as the butler continued.

 

“My apologies for being the one to greet you,” he said. “King Alex and Prince Jason are currently absent, dealing with a sudden emergency. I do not know when they will return but it should be soon. Perhaps I can show you and your entourage to the royal guest chambers while you await their arrival? I will also arrange for some refreshment to be brought to you, I'm sure you wish to rest after your journey.”

 

“Some rest and refreshment would be most welcome, thank you,” King Voss replied. “I hope the emergency is resolved to King Alex's satisfaction." The butler immediately felt sorry for King Voss, he was more amiable than Princess Erica and the poor King had no idea what a huge diplomatic mess his sister had created. He led the way to the royal guest wing with King Voss and his servants following.

 

As they walked, King Voss wondered if his sister had arrived and where she was. Her ship had not been in the harbour at all and no one, as yet, had mentioned her. He wondered if she _had_ arrived or had her ship been hit by a storm and not made it and he began to worry that it had been the case.

 

“I'm here, looking for my sister, Princess Erica,” he said and he noticed a slight stiffening of the butler's shoulders. “She was coming here on one of our ships but I didn't see it in the harbour. Did she arrive here?” The butler cleared his throat.

 

“King Alex would be a better person to talk to, Your Majesty,” he replied. “He'll explain the situation to you.” From that, Voss knew his sister had arrived here or, at least, the Altheians had information about her but something was clearly wrong.

 

What had happened? What had Erica done?

 

Voss was not completely blind to his sister's......peccadilloes and he partly blamed himself for it. Their mother had died, not long after Erica's birth and then their father died when Erica was just a few years old. Voss was far older, in his early teens at the time, and he had to take the throne and raise Erica and so had to grow up fast himself. Erica had never really known either parent, unlike Voss, and he had compensated for that with giving Erica everything she could want but then realised, too late, that he had spoilt her rotten. Her manners with others were atrocious and he had to watch her when other royals visited and he had spotted signs of her obsessive behaviour, heard the whispers in the court, questioning his sister's sanity. He stayed close to her when Prince Alfred visited, to keep her reined in when they were together. He wanted this alliance and Prince Alfred, although the perfect gentleman around Erica, had not seemed particularly interested in her but Voss had lived in hope.

 

Then, a few days after Prince Alfred's departure, Voss had gotten word that one of the ships, ready and provisioned for a journey to take a Mertorian ambassador to the Kingdom of Russ had left and he found that Erica was on board.

 

He guessed where she was going and immediately ordered another ship to be provisioned while he met with his Chamberlain to talk about him holding the fort while Voss chased his errant sister across the sea.

 

Something told Voss that there would be diplomatic tangles to work out when King Alex arrived.

 

* * *

 

Seeing the new Mertorian ship in dock threw the Altheian royals into a panic for a moment. King Alex thought he would have some time to mule over the problems and intricacies of the situation but now he had to think of something immediately.

 

“How do we explain why we have Princess Erica under house arrest without revealing the Spadians, Dad?” Jason asked as they came through the harbour mouth, looking at the ship. “We can't let anyone see Alfred like …... he is now.”

 

“And we need him to give an account of Princess Erica's actions,” Alex replied.

 

“We have Matthew,” Jason replied.

 

“Matthew might not be believed,” Alex commented. “Princess Erica will probably claim that Matthew is an imposter, just the way she's hinted since she got here and King Voss might believe his sister. Alfred would be harder to brush aside.”

 

“But he can't be seen,” Jason replied. Matthew had heard everything and turned to his uncle.

 

“Perhaps we can arrange something,” he said and went to the railing, throwing a rope ladder down the side and climbing down to the water.

 

* * *

 

It was dark when the butler came to inform King Voss that King Alex had arrived home and had been informed of his presence and that he would meet with Voss in the morning after resting from his journey. Nothing was mentioned about Princess Erica and there was that undertone again when he asked and it was once again recommended that he talk to King Alex about it.

 

* * *

 

The next morning, after breakfast, King Voss requested an audience with King Alex which was granted and he was escorted to the King's study where King Alex stood beside the window, looking out but he turned when the door opened.

 

“Welcome, King Voss,” he greeted as they moved toward each other to shake hands. “My apologies for not being here to greet you when you came.”

 

“No apology required, King Alex,” Voss replied. “I understand you had an emergency to deal with and my arrival was not anticipated. I trust your emergency is now over and all is well?” Alex's look turned serious.

 

“Not quite yet,” he replied, honestly. “I'm afraid that the emergency involved your sister, Princess Erica.” Voss's heart dropped.

 

“What happened to her?” he asked, frantically. “Is she alright? Is she hurt?” Alex took a deep breath.

 

“Physically, she's unharmed,” he replied. “However, she is currently under house arrest.” Voss was completely stunned at what he had just heard.

 

“W...What?!” he stammered. Alex gave a sigh.

 

“The emergency involved chasing Princess Erica's ship,” he explained. “On which she kidnapped my nephews, Prince Alfred and Prince Matthew, along with another visiting royal dignitary who, I regret to say, she tried to kill.” Voss's mind was racing with what King Alex had told him. Kidnapping! Attempted murder! Voss knew his sister was a little ….. determined ….. to have her own way but to go this far!

 

“There must be some mistake,” he replied. “My sister can be difficult to handle (he was willing to admit that much) but I find it hard to believe that she would do something so …..” Voss had no words. “Why would she kill a complete stranger and......Prince Matthew? Prince Alfred's twin? I had heard that he died when he was four years old.”

 

“We were wrong,” Alex said. “Prince Matthew was found just shortly before your sister arrived here, it was an unexpected and wonderful moment for us all which made your sister's kidnapping of him and his brother all the more distressing and, as for trying to kill Sir Arthur, she was convinced that she was going to marry Alfred, despite the fact that there is no arrangement in place yet, and that Sir Arthur was getting in the way. She had her men tie him up with a weight attached to his feet and had him thrown  overboard. Fortunately, Sir Arthur was able to free himself and find help.” Alex kept to the truth as much as possible. King Voss did not need to know that Arthur had gotten free by turning into a merman.

 

“I wish to see Prince Alfred and Prince Matthew,” Voss said, after a moment, not wanting to believe that his sister could do such a thing, like he had not wanted to believe the whispers about Erica's mental stability.....or lack thereof. “And then I wish to see my sister.” Alex nodded, as if expecting this and he went to the door and opened it to admit Alfred, someone who looked like him, a dark haired man with golden eyes and a blonde man with large eyebrows and green eyes, followed by Prince Jason, into the room.

 

* * *

 

_The day before....._

 

_Matthew climbed down the rope ladder on the side of the ship to the ocean and called out, “Arthur! Alfred!” A moment later, Arthur and Alfred surfaced, along with Gilbert and Yao, and swam underneath Matthew._

 

“ _What's up, Mattie?” Alfred asked._

 

“ _King Voss's ship's in the harbour,” Matthew replied. “When he finds out his sister's under arrest, it could be a diplomatic incident. We need you and possibly Arthur to back up our version of events.”_

 

“ _But how?” Alfred exclaimed. “King Voss can't see me like this!”_

 

“ _Kesese,” Gilbert laughed. “Don't worry, Your Majesty. I'll deal with that problem.”_

 

* * *

 

_They dropped anchor and the four mers climbed back aboard the ship, along with Peter where Gilbert re-transformed Arthur and Alfred and, this time, Yao joined the group. Blankets were brought to cover Alfred, Arthur and Yao before Gilbert and Peter did the transformation after which they were provided with clothes. Alfred and Arthur were already comfortable with walking on legs but Yao needed a little assistance but soon, the entire Royal Pod of Spades were standing together as land-dwellers._

 

_They decided to wait until dark before going ashore and Alex would plead the need to rest so they could buy time to get their plan to circumvent any fallout from this situation together. Alex also took the opportunity to have tentative talks, with Matthew interpreting, with Yao for a treaty with Spades in order to keep in touch with Alfred and Matthew. By the time, they were ready to leave the ship for the castle, there was a framework for the first diplomatic alliance between a mer and land-dweller kingdom._

 

 _They left the ship, coming ashore and heading for the castle, bringing Princess Erica with them and she was placed under house arrest in her assigned chambers. She had been very vocal on the trip to the shore, saying how she was treated was an act of war, especially the way she was treated by_ Freaks! _She shut up when she was temporarily deafened by a screech from Yao, not that he knew what Erica was saying. He just could not stand the sound of her voice._

 

_Once Erica was safely put away for the night, the joint royal families of Altheia and Spades settled in the King's Study and put their heads together to deal with the diplomatic mess Princess Erica's actions had caused._

 

* * *

 

King Voss faced the new men in the room, recognising Prince Alfred immediately and guessing that the look-a-like was the newly found Prince Matthew. One resembled King Alex so Voss guessed that this was Prince Jason but he wondered which of the other two men was the aforementioned Sir Arthur.

 

“Allow me to introduce everyone,” Alex said, indicating to each as he said their names, while Matthew translated for Arthur and Yao. “Prince Alfred you know, this is Prince Matthew.” He indicated to Matthew before moving on to Jason. “This is my son, Crowned Prince Jason and this is Sir Arthur and Sir Yao of Spades.” He looked at the others. “Everyone, this is King Voss of Mertoris.” Everyone bowed to each other, politely.

 

“Please excuse this,” Alex said when he saw Matthew muttering to Arthur and Yao in a strange language. “Sir Arthur and Sir Yao don't speak our language and need Matthew as a translator.” Voss nodded in acceptance.

 

“That's fine,” he replied. “I need to know what Sir Arthur has to say any way. I also must speak to my sister, to find out how she managed to get here in the first place. The ship she took was a diplomatic vessel and all royal and diplomatic vessels require written royal permission to leave harbour.”

 

“Do you mean this?” Alex produced a parchment from his desk that had been found on board Princess Erica's ship and showed it to King Voss who read it with disbelieving eyes. It was, indeed, royal permission for a ship to leave harbour but he did not remember signing this. He looked down at his signature and frowned.

 

“This isn't my signature,” he said, looking closely at the scrawl. “It's a good likeness but some of the loops are not right, They slope too far to the right.” He pulled a piece of parchment across to him, took a quill and put his signature on it to show King Alex the difference and King Alex could see that someone had made an attempt to imitate the signature but, side by side with the real one, the difference was obvious.

 

“Tell me everything that has happened since Erica arrived here,” Voss said. “Then take me to see Erica.”

 

* * *

 

Voss was given an abridged account of what had happened, how Alfred's ship had sunk on his return journey to Altheia and how Arthur had saved Alfred and ended up swept ashore, a day later, then followed by Matthew, looking for him and how they discovered that Matthew was Alfred's previously-thought-to-be-dead twin brother.

 

Then they talked about Erica's arrival and everything that had happened afterwards, not actually telling Voss about the snide insults about Arthur or the hints about Matthew being an imposter but Voss got the impression that the Altheians were not very impressed with her behaviour. Alex and Alfred did, however, tell Voss of Erica's belief that the marriage alliance was 'a done deal', constantly talking about 'The Wedding' and became very angry when told that it might not happen due to recent changes and had blamed Matthew and Arthur for 'trying to take Alfred away from her'. Voss internally groaned. If this account was true, Erica had probably ruined any chance of an alliance with Altheia but he would hear Erica's side of the story before making any decisions.

 

They went along to the rooms that Erica was confined to and this was going to be the defining moment. Would Voss believe his sister and continue to indulge her or would he finally realise what his sister had actually become? The guards outside her door unlocked it and King Voss was allowed in.

 

The room was a wreck. Mirrors were smashed, paintings had been destroyed, furniture had been thrown over, chairs broken and curtains had been pulled from their rails. The windows had also been damaged, cracked and broken.

 

The bed had not survived either. The sheets had been ripped and the pillows destroyed, the feathers flying all over the room. Food that had been delivered to her had been thrown against the walls and, through the door to the en-suite, things had been thrown across the floor and broken shards of the washing bowl and jug were mixed in with the mess. The whole chamber looked like it had been hit by a hurricane.

 

Voss groaned. Many a time, Erica had destroyed her room because something had not gone her way and usually wanted some poor servant punished for some small thing Erica decided was wrong in her own mind and built up into the vilest crime. Voss would simply move the servant to a different part of the castle without punishment and Erica was never the wiser.

 

King Alex, Jason and the Spadian royal pod looked at the destruction in horrified fascination, that this tiny wisp of a land-dweller could wreck so much damage. Even Yao, who had no experience of land-dwellers was shocked at the devastation and had the feeling that this was not typical of how land-dwellers treated belongings. Arthur, of course, was less shocked. He knew, first hand, the lengths Princess Erica would go to when she wanted her own way. After all, if she was willing to commit murder.....

 

Erica stood in the middle of it all, panting as if she had just thrown everything around before they came in and was about to throw a figurine to the floor when she looked up at the door and saw her brother in the opening.

 

“VOSS!” she cried, dropping the ornament and breaking it anyway. “Thank goodness you came. These people have been vile to me! They've broken the marriage contract and locked me up in here without food. (Voss looked at the food that was splattered across the walls). You can't let them treat me like this! You should declare war on them right now!” The fact that Erica had been locked in her rooms, rather than the dungeons, had not escaped Voss, proving that, despite her alleged crimes, Erica had been treated far better than she deserved, if guilty which he rather suspected she was. There was also the fact that Mertoris could not win a war against Altheia, the kingdom was too strong and had too many allies, to say nothing of the kingdom represented by Sir Arthur.

 

“Erica, why did you even come here?” Voss demanded. “I didn't give permission so how did you get the ship to leave harbour?” Erica, who had been expecting her brother to just give her what she wanted, was shocked to find herself being questioned about _her_ misdemeanours.

 

“Erica!” Voss snapped when she did not answer. “I ask you a question!”

 

“The ship had permission,” she insisted. “I had a document that you signed......”

 

“You mean the one with my forged signature on it!” he snapped, again. “You really need to do better than that. You took the ship that was ready for the royal ambassador to Russ and made a completely illegal trip. And I thought I had made it clear! Prince Alfred's visit with us was to explore the _possibility_ of a marriage treaty. There is no marriage treaty yet so they have broken nothing and, if what they have said is true, you have potentially begun a war with possibly three kingdoms. That's more than any kingdom can stand, what were you thinking?” Erica felt the whole world, including her brother was against her and that she had done nothing wrong, making her spoilt rage rise to the fore.

 

“I HAD TO MAKE PRINCE ALFRED SEE SENSE!” she screamed at the top of her lungs when Alex, Jason, Alfred, Matthew, Arthur and Yao watched her essentially hang herself. “THAT FAKE BROTHER OF HIS AND THAT ABOMINATION WERE STEALING HIM AWAY FROM ME. THAT ARTHUR PERSON IS A FISH! THAT'S HOW HE SURVIVED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN!”

 

“So you did kidnap Prince Alfred and Matthew and tried to kill Sir Arthur!” Voss gasped. Erica had really done it this time. Kidnapping two royal princes was an act that could start a war if Voss could not find a way to pacify King Alex, to say nothing of attempting to murder a royal dignitary. And this business about Sir Arthur being a fish?! It seems Voss should have listened to the court whispers about his sister's sanity.

 

“HE'S BEWITCHED ALFRED!” she continued to scream and become hysterical. “TURNED ALFRED AGAINST ME! I WILL KILL THAT FREAK!” She picked up a broken shard of pottery from the floor and dove at Arthur, brandishing the shard like a dagger, only to be stopped by her own brother who slapped her cheek. Hard! Erica dropped the shard in shock and put her hand to her cheek and could not believe that her brother had hit her. Voss felt that he had no choice, she had been so far gone in her rage that she was willing to try and commit murder, right in front of everyone. Voss had to face the reality that Erica had gone mad.

 

“Brother, how could you?” she asked with a shocked whisper.

 

“You have gone insane, Erica!” Voss declared. “And your insanity will bring Mertoris to ruin. Fish people! You almost started a war over Fish People! You need help, Erica. I should have seen it sooner then I wouldn't be dealing with the diplomatic incident that you've caused.” He indicated to Arthur. “Fish people are a myth, does Sir Arthur look like he has a fish tail to you? He's as human as you and me.”

 

“He had a tail!” Erica insisted. “He came back and attacked the ship with an army of fish people. He turned Alfred into the same as him, he's infectious!”

 

“Prince Alfred doesn't have a tail either,” Voss pointed out.

 

“Alfred did have a tail,” Erica snapped. “They must have changed back somehow.”

 

“Will you listen to yourself?” Voss demanded. “You have no proof and nothing but insane ramblings. And where is this 'Fish Army' that supposedly attacked your ship? You need help, Erica.”

 

“Ask the crew!” Erica snapped. “And then be prepared to apologise to me. You'll see I am not insane and telling the truth and you'll have to grovel to me.” She looked extremely smug. Voss sighed.

 

“I'm as mad as you for agreeing to this,” he replied. “All right! I'll go and talk to the crew.”

 

The Altheian and Spadian royals just looked at each other.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They forgot about the crew ….. or did they?....


	13. The King Of Spades!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What will the crew tell King Voss.....?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, the last chapter. Sorry this is late but I had a slight cast oe Writer's Block and couldn't figure out how to end this but …. here we go! Hope you enjoy!

 

_**The King Of Spades!** _

 

 

The Mertorian crew were still being held on the ship so they had to take a couple of carriages to the dock, King Voss, Erica along with a Mertorian and a Altheian guard were in one carriage, everyone else in another as they were driven down to the harbour.

 

“What do we do if this doesn't work?” Alfred asked and Matthew translated the question for Arthur and Yao. “If the crew back Erica up...”

 

“We'll deal with that, if and when it happens,” Alex replied. “We can only hope that things go to plan.” Yao and Arthur began clicking and chirping between themselves for a few minutes, Alfred and Matthew understanding the conversation but Alex and Jason were confused.

 

“They're discussing what to do if King Voss learns about us,” Matthew replied. Yao turned to Matthew, chirping and squealing and Matthew nodded.

 

“If it doesn't work,” Matthew said. “Yao and Arthur said we'll tell them everything but that we'll keep the location of Spades a secret for now, in case King Voss's reaction is hostile.” Alex nodded.

 

“If this goes wrong,” he replied. “And King Voss does react badly, all of you run, my men will defend you while you escape. If King Voss shares Princess Erica's bigotry, I'm not going to lose my nephews to it.”

 

“What about Altheia's relationship with Mertoris?” Alfred asked while Matthew chirped and whistled to his other royals. “If he finds out his sister's telling the truth, any chance of an alliance will probably be dead in the water, no pun intended.”

 

“What can he do?” Jason replied. “We'll have Vynlande on side, he won't take us both on. Madeline's father will back us, even with tales of people from the sea and Voss can't take those odds. Besides, Mertoris avoids war whenever possible. They haven't been involved in conflict for centuries and I think Voss will avoid one now, especially one he can't win.”

 

“But let's hope it doesn't come to that, anyway,” Alex said. “I just hope this works!” And with that, the harbour came into view.

 

They had arrived!

 

* * *

 

Arthur could not stand the smug look on Erica's face as they all stood on the deck of her ship, waiting for the captain and first mate to be brought up from below decks by Captain Matthias's men, could not stand the certainty she exuded that she was about to be proved right. Alfred stood beside Arthur with Yao and Matthew either side of them and Alex and Jason between the Spadians and the Mertorian brother and sister as sounds came up from the door to below decks as Altheian guards came through flanking the captain and first mate and they came to stand before the two sets of royals and they bowed to their king.

 

This was it! The moment of truth and Arthur prayed that this would work, despite the fact the Jokers warned that it might not take with land-dwellers. He felt Alfred take his hand and give it a squeeze in comfort.

 

Alfred was not just holding Arthur's hand in reassurance, he wanted a firm grip on Arthur so if this did not work and this turned nasty he could pull Arthur to the side of the ship and get him to safety. He looked over to his brother and Yao, catching their eyes and giving the slightest nod toward the sea and they nodded back. If things went bad, they would all escape to the sea.

 

King Voss approached his two naval men, looked the captain straight in the eyes and asked the fateful question while the Altheians and the Spadians hid their concern.

 

“Captain Maruir,” King Voss began. “You may not be aware that you actually left dock without permission.” The Mertorian captain opened his mouth to protest but King Voss held up his hand to keep him silent. “My signature on the permission document was forged so you are not in trouble for this, you had no way of knowing. Blame for this falls on the forger.” Erica squirmed a little uncomfortably beside him. “But I need to ask you questions about the more recent events. Were you and any of your crew involved with the kidnapping of the Altheian princes, Alfred and Matthew, and of the foreign dignitary, Sir Arthur of Spades. And was Sir Arthur tied up and thrown into the sea from this ship.” The captain looked over at Alfred, Matthew and Arthur, a little shame-faced.

 

“Unfortunately, Your Majesty,” he replied, both men casting their eyes down in repentance.

 

“Why did you perform acts that could so obviously lead to war?” Both the captain and the first mate's eyes flickered to Princess Erica, nervously.

 

“It was a royal command, Sire,” the first mate replied, quietly.

 

“From who?” More eye flickering to Princess Erica. “There will be no punishment for speaking the truth, now who gave those commands.” Captain Maruir took a deep breath.

 

“Princess Erica, Your Majesty,” he said. Voss sighed as Erica's actions were finally confirmed, casting a look at his sister that told her of his opinion of her actions but she was not going down without a fight.

 

“Ask them what else they saw,” she demanded. Voss could not believe what he was about to ask.

 

“This might be a strange question,” he told the men. “But certain …... events have been reported which are hard to believe and the two of you are in a position to clear things up. Was this ship attacked by fish people?”

 

Altheians and Spadians held their breath.

 

_The night before....._

 

_Matthew had realised a problem and he was sure that the others had been thinking about this and he brought the problem to the table while they were still on the ship, talking about how to approach King Voss in the morning._

 

“ _We have to address another issue,” he said while, this time Alfred translated for Arthur and Yao. “We can tell King Voss that it was Captain Kohler that captured Princess Erica's ship until we're blue in the face but there's an entire crew and the Princess herself that saw the Spadian Army overrun it. How do we keep ourselves a secret?”_

 

“ _I've been mulling over that myself,” King Alex replied and that made sense to Matthew, his uncle was not a fool. “I'm trying to find a way to present the facts to King Voss without mentioning the Spadians but I don't know how we can.” Yao clicked and chirped and Matthew, Arthur and Alfred looked at him._

 

“ _What did Sir Yao say?” Jason asked. Matthew turned back to his cousin and uncle._

 

“ _He said, to consult the Jokers,” Matthew replied. “They might have something to contribute.” Alex nodded and they all stood up and made their way out on to the deck. Matthew, once again, climbed down the rope ladder over the side and gave a call into the water. While the rest of the Spadian army had retreated to beyond the harbour wall, far enough out to not be spotted accidentally, the Jokers had stayed close to the ship, in case their knowledge or magic was needed so it did not take long for Gilbert and Peter to surface._

 

“ _Guten nacht,” Gilbert greeted. “What do you need from the Awesome Jokers?”_

 

“ _Can you come aboard?” Matthew asked. “We have a little problem that we hope you can help us with.”_

 

“ _Let us up,” Peter replied. “And we'll see what we can do.”_

 

_Matthew clambered back up the ladder with Gilbert and Peter following after him and they flopped on to the deck. Gilbert decided that it would be more comfortable to do this as land-dwellers and, after blankets were brought to cover their modesty, Gilbert and Peter performed the magic and the Jokers finally set actual foot on deck._

 

_Gilbert was given some of Captain Kohler's clothes to wear while some of the cabin boy's were brought for Peter and, with a little help from Matthew and Arthur, the Jokers were helped to the captain's cabin where the royals laid out their little problem. Gilbert whistled._

 

“ _That's not a little problem,” he replied. “That's an unawesomely big one. An entire crew of Mertorian land-dwellers with knowledge of us is bad.” It had surprised King Alex that, when the Jokers had transformed, Gilbert could understand and speak Land-dweller._

 

“ _Can you help us?” Alex asked while a chirping translation went on in the background. Gilbert hummed._

 

“ _I don't know,” he replied. “There maybe something.......but it's rarely been used.......even less than land-dweller transformation magic. In fact, that magic had not been used in over a thousand years.....what I'm thinking of..... hasn't been used in longer.”_

 

“ _Why?” asked Jason._

 

“ _It's not very moral,” Gilbert said. “In fact, in the wrong hands, it's very dangerous and it was badly abused in the past, so much so that it was used on all mers, leaving the Jokers untouched and we became the guardians of the ancient magics.” Yao and Arthur were a little shocked at the translation that Matthew provided and chirped their own question._

 

“ _What was this magic?” Gilbert translated for Alex and Jason and he chirped back an answer to Yao and Arthur who gave a look of understanding before Gilbert turned back to the king and prince. “It was magic that could mould the memory, change it so the person the magic is being used on believes whatever the magic tells them. You can imagine the chaos that caused so the Jokers before us used the magic to make the other mers forget it and kept the knowledge safe ever since. Peter and I know of it because knowledge is passed on from Joker to Joker.”_

 

“ _Could you use the magic to make the Mertorian crew forget?” Alex asked, hopefully. Gilbert sighed._

 

“ _I wouldn't normally use this magic,” he replied. “But this is to protect the Mer race so I'll try but …..”_

 

“ _But?” Alfred asked._

 

“ _It's never been used on land-dwellers,” Gilbert said. “There's a strong possibility it might not work on your race.”_

 

“ _I don't understand,” Jason replied. “Why wouldn't it work? Your healing magic does.”_

 

“ _Healing magic is easy,” Peter chirped up. “Every mer can perform it and it works on everything. Prince Alfred is not the first land-dweller to be healed and saved by a mer. We might not show ourselves to land-dwellers but we don't let them die if we can save them. But memory magic is more complicated and it's never been used on land-dwellers. Not all mer magic works on your race and this might not work either. And I don't think it will work on Princess Erica.”_

 

“ _Why not?”_

 

“ _I don't think she's sane,” Gilbert replied. “And this magic didn't work on the Mad. So she'll remember everything. It might work with the crew but I can guarantee nothing. All the Black Joker and I can do is do the magic and hope that it works but it would have to be done tonight.”_

 

“ _That's important?” Alex asked._

 

“ _Very,” Gilbert replied. “It must be done while they sleep so the magic can settle and take root. It will give the magic the best chance to work and we have nothing to lose by trying.”_

 

“ _Then please, Red Joker,” Alex begged. “Help us!”_

 

* * *

 

Gilbert and Peter were transported to the Mertorian ship and down below decks where most of the crew had been sleeping but a few were still awake. The Altheian guards were told to stay on deck so they would not be affected by the Joker's magic and a quick burst of singing sleep magic had put those still awake under their influence and, when all the Mertorians were in the arms of Morpheus, the two Jokers began their real work.

 

* * *

 

“Was this ship attacked by fish people?” The Altheian and Spadian royals waited with bated breath as everyone waited for an answer from either the Captain or the First Mate while Princess Erica looked on smugly. This was the moment of truth. The Captain and First Mate looked confused and, for a brief moment looked like they were trying to remember something.

 

“Fish....people, Your Majesty?” The First Mate asked.

 

“Yes,” Voss replied, trying to stop himself from blushing with embarrassment. “Like those of myth.” The two men looked like they were trying to remember again but then went back to looking confused.

 

“Such creatures don't exist, Sire,” the Captain replied. “I know I've never seen one.” The Altheians and the Spadians gave an inward sigh of relief as they realised that the magic had worked while Princess Erica's face dropped with shock and then filled with rage.

 

“THEY'RE LYING!” she screamed. “THEY'RE LYING! THE WHOLE CREW WERE FIGHTING THEM AND THAT FREAK KNOCKED ME INTO THE WATER WITH HIS TAIL!” She pointed at Arthur with a venomous look.

 

“Your Highness,” the Captain said to Princess Erica. “Prince Alfred accidentally knocked you into the sea when he saved his brother from the knife to his throat. The crew were fighting the Altheian crew when they caught up to us.” He turned back to Voss. “It was they who took us prisoner, Your Majesty.”

 

“And Sir Arthur?” the King asked.

 

“He arrived with the Altheians,” the First Mate replied. “He must have gotten loose and they picked him up.”

 

“LIARS!” Erica shrieked and lunged at the two men, her hands braced to scratch their eyes out but she was intercepted by her brother. “LET ME GO, BROTHER! THEY'RE LYING!”

 

“Why would they lie, Erica?” Voss demanded. “They're citizens of Mertoris, not Altheia so why would they lie against their own kingdom?”

 

“I don't know,” Erica replied and then shrieked in their direction. “BUT THEY ARE!” And she looked over at Arthur, Matthew and Yao. “They must have done something to them, just like they did to Alfred. I'LL KILL THEM!” And she tried to break Voss's hold to get to them but Voss held on to her wrists firmly.

 

“STOP IT, ERICA!” he shouted and pushed her further away from the Spadians. “STOP IT NOW!” Voss had to face the fact that his sister was, indeed, mad. She thought that it was all right to kidnap and murder to get what she wanted, that Prince Alfred was hers and anyone who got in the way deserved to die and now this delusion about fish people.....The court whispers were true, his sister was insane.

 

“This is my fault,” he blamed himself. “I tried to make up for the fact that you never knew our parents but I've spoilt you to the point that you want what you want by any means necessary and now you're excusing your crimes with delusions.” He looked at King Alex.

 

“My apologies, King Alex,” he said. “My sister's actions have clearly caused you and your family great distress, to say nothing of the distress and insult offered to your guests. I know that little can make up for what has happened and I can only say that my sister is clearly sick. If you agree, I will take her back to Mertoris to consult our finest doctors to get her the help she so obviously needs.”

 

“No! Brother!” It had sunk into Erica what her brother was saying and knew what kind of doctors he meant. “I'm not insane, it really did happen! I don't know why the Captain is saying it didn't but it did!” The Mertorian Captain and First Mate shot each other a 'She's crazy!' look.

 

“Enough, Erica!” Voss replied and looked at Alex. “She needs to be confined for her own and everyone else's safety. Will you allow her to be confined to her cabin? I will collect her things from the palace and she can stay here until it's time to leave. That is, if you will allow her to.”

 

“I realise that your sister is …..unwell,” Alex replied, tactfully. “And that she acted without your sanction and I'm willing to let this matter lie, as long as steps are taken to …… address her issues. But I cannot speak for the Kingdom of Spades. Her actions were against them too.” Both Kings turned to the Spadian royal pod who had heard the whole thing through Alfred and Matthew. There was a short consultation between them all and then Matthew turned to King Voss and his uncle.”

 

“Sir Arthur and Sir Yao have discussed the matter,” he said. “And said that they realised that these events were all Princess Erica's doing and that she.....has problems. Spades also has no desire for war, especially one so unnecessary so we agree to the same terms as Altheia, Spades is willing to let the matter drop.” Voss gave a sigh of relief.

 

“I appreciate your forbearance,” he replied. “I know that not many kingdoms would be so forgiving and I'm relieved that your kingdoms are ruled with compassion and wisdom and I swear that Princess Erica will receive the help she needs, the moment we return to Mertoris and I can only apologise for what you have all suffered at Erica's hands. I'll collect Erica's things from the palace and we'll leave with the next tide.” He turned to the Captain and First Mate.

 

“Take Erica below and confine her to her cabin,” he ordered and the two men took Erica from his grip and pulled her toward the door, leading to below deck, surrounded by Altheian guards while she began screaming all the way.

 

“NO, YOU CAN'T DO THIS!” she shrieked as she struggled helplessly against her captors. “BROTHER, TELL THEM TO LET ME GO! THESE PEOPLE ARE FREAKS! DEMONS! THEY SHOULD BE DESTroyed.....” Her voice faded as she was pulled below decks. Alfred breathed a sigh of relief as she was taken from their sight. He had almost felt guilty about Princess Erica but, while she was not insane because of a delusion of 'fish people', she was still a few swords short of a full armoury.

 

Point was, the magic had worked. No one remembered the battle with the mers but Princess Erica but her behaviour had everyone convinced that she was mentally unstable. Well, she was. Just for different reasons.

 

They could breathe again.

 

* * *

 

The Mertorians left the next day on the next full tide, after all of Princess Erica's belongings had been taken to the ship and provisions had been replenished. All talk of an alliance had been put aside for now, to give time for the dust to settle and, only when the two ships disappeared over the horizon, did anyone truly relax.

 

Arthur had gone to his guest chambers and Yao had been given a suite of chambers next to his. They had decided that Alfred and Matthew needed to talk to their uncle and cousin alone because, sooner or later, they would have to return to Spades. The entire royal pod was absent and that could not continue much longer and Alfred had to be introduced to his kingdom but they knew that separation from their land-dweller family would be hard for the twin King and Ace brothers and Arthur and Yao wanted it to be as painless as possible for them.

 

“Phew!” Alfred said, flopping down in a chair in the lounge in King Alex's sitting room that everyone had retired to after seeing King Voss off. “If I never have to deal with things like that again, it will be too soon.”

 

“Oh, my boy!” Alex replied. “If ruling Spades is anything like ruling a land kingdom, you'll face many situations like this, see this as practice.”

 

“Oh joy!” Alfred replied, sarcastically. “Arthur never mentioned that part of it. But then, he is the Queen of Spades, not the king.” Jason gave a chuckle.

 

“I don't think I'll ever get used to the idea that Spadian Queens can be male,” he said.

 

“And Spadian Kings can be female,” Matthew replied. “All the royal positions can be held by any gender. It can be weird for a land-dweller to understand but it's pretty normal for us. In fact, it's strange to us that only males can be kings and females can be queens. Seems oddly restricting.”

 

“You talk like you're not a land-dweller yourself,” Alex commented. Matthew swallowed.

 

“I'm not,” he said, candidly. “Not any more. I haven't been a land-dweller since I was four, not really.” He took a deep breath. “And you know that Alfred isn't a land-dweller any more either.” And now they were addressing the elephant in the room.

 

“I know,” Alex sighed. “I know you have another kingdom to get back to. I'm just not ready to say goodbye to Alfred and I'm not ready to lose you again, now that we just got you back.”

 

“I wish we didn't have to leave either, uncle Alex,” Alfred replied. “I don't want to go but Spades needs its king and, as unready as I feel for that, if there's one thing I learnt from you, it's I have to take my responsibilities seriously.”

 

“And here I was thinking that lesson hadn't sunk in,” Alex quipped.

 

“Oh, ha ha!”

 

“Besides, you're not losing us,” Matthew replied. “Soon, there'll be a treaty in place and we can come back to visit you. We'll still be around from now on.”

 

“It's not the same as having you here,” Jason commented. “I'm going to miss you, Alfred. And you, Matthew! I was looking forward to getting to know you. I won't have much time before you have to leave for Spades.”

 

“I know,” Matthew replied. “And we need to return soon but, once Alfred is introduced to the kingdom and settled as king, we can arrange a diplomatic visit to strengthen ties between Altheia and Spades and Alfred and I can come back.” Alex sighed.

 

“I suppose it will have to do,” he said, grudgingly. “But it will be a while before you can return. Crowning a new king and him settling in can take time. Do Spadians crown their royalty?”

 

“Damn if I know,” Alfred replied. “I've got a lot to learn.”

 

“Yes, you do,” Matthew laughed. “And no, we don't crown our royalty. There's just a celebration when the new royal is presented to the people. Considering how long we've been waiting for Alfred, it's going to be one hell of a party.”

 

“Well, I'm down for that,” Alfred grinned.

 

“I'm still going to miss you two,” Jason replied. “And I'm sorry that I'm going to miss that party.”

 

* * *

 

Arthur had introduced Yao to the miraculous fluid known as tea (although Yao was not sure about the milk and sugar and drank his without either) while they sat together, wondering what was happening in King Alex's sitting room. Arthur knew it would be hard for Alfred and Matthew to leave their land-dweller family so it was probably a good thing that it was rare that land-dwellers became mer royals because this was hard for those chosen.

 

Arthur was pleased that they were opening diplomatic relations with King Alex, although it had never happened between a mer and a land-dweller kingdom before but it would soften the pain of separation for his King and Ace and Arthur had to admit that he liked King Alex and he believed that their two kingdoms could work well together.

 

“Do you think King Alex will try to talk his nephews out of coming back to Spades, aru?” Yao asked. Arthur hummed.

 

“King Alex seems quite reasonable,” Arthur replied. “But, saying that, he has raised Alfred like his son since Alfred and Matthew's father died and Matthew was lost to them so it's hard to say but King Alex does seem to understand royal responsibilities and duties. The treaty between Spades and Altheia should make it easier but still, we're asking a lot of the land-dweller.”

 

“We need our king, aru,” Yao pointed out.

 

“I know, I want our king in Spades as much as you,” Arthur said with a bit of a blush painting his cheeks. “But we can't force this. We're actually lucky we got this far. Did you know Alfred was terrified of the ocean?” Yao paused in mid-sip.

 

“Really, aru?” he said, surprised.

 

“Absolutely,” Arthur replied. “Losing his family and almost drowning when he was very young, gave him an over-whelming fear of the sea. When I saved him, that had been only his second time on a vessel since that time, the first being his journey to Mertoris.”

 

“He seemed so composed in the water when we were swimming back to Altheia, aru,” Yao mused.

 

“Probably because he was now a mer,” Arthur commented. “He knows as a mer, he'll no longer drown and it takes away a lot of the fear. I'm just glad he was unconscious for his initial transformation because I think Alfred was right, he might never have gone near the sea if not for what happened.”

 

“I dislike the idea that we have Princess Erica to thank for bringing our king to us, aru,” Yao snorted.

 

“Since it wasn't her intention,” Arthur replied. “I think we can hold back our gratitude. I'm just glad she's disappeared from our lives.”

 

“Speaking of disappearances,” Yao said, putting his cup down. “We have yet to discuss yours, aru!” Arthur internally groaned, thinking that Yao had a memory like stone. Once something was etched into it, it was there for good.

 

“Yao,” he began. “I …...” He was saved when the door opened and Alfred walked in. “Alfred! You and your family have finished for the evening?”

 

“Yeah, we're done talking,” Alfred replied. “Uncle Alex gets that we have to go to Spades, although he's not happy but once we're settled in Spades and everything's good, maybe we could arrange something diplomatic and Mattie and I can come back for a visit.”

 

“I'm sure we can arrange something,” Yao said. “As long as the absences are expected this time, aru.” He gave Arthur a scolding stare.

 

“When do we go to Spades?” Alfred asked.

 

“Soon,” Yao replied. “Right now, the entire royal pod is absent and that can't continue so the sooner the better, aru.”

 

“I'm kinda nervous,” Alfred replied. “I mean, what if the people of Spades don't like me?” Arthur put his hand on Alfred's cheek in comfort.

 

“The people will love you, Alfred,” he said, his thumb stroking the skin. “And they'll be delighted to finally have their king. Don't worry so much,”

 

“I think I will retire for the night,” Yao said, getting up and leaving for his own chambers. “May your dreams be calm waters, aru.” He went out the door. He was pleased that his King and Queen were close but, if they were going to get amorous, he would give them the privacy to do so. He did not need to see it.

 

After Yao left, Alfred pulled Arthur close and pressed a soft kiss on Arthur's lips and Arthur put his arms around Alfred's neck, pulling him into a close hug.

 

“I'm kinda torn,” Alfred admitted, resting his chin on Arthur's head. “I know I have to go be the King of Spades and I wanna be with you but, at the same time, I don't wanna leave my family.”

 

“That's understandable,” Arthur commiserated. “You don't want to leave your family behind. But I can't say I'm sorry that you've chosen us and I promise we'll make sure you and your family can spent time together, I would never separate you from them.” Alfred took his chin off Arthur's head and looked down at him as Arthur looked up.

 

“I know you wouldn't,” Alfred replied and lowered his head to capture Arthur's lips and Arthur raised himself up to meet him. Alfred put his hand on the nape of Arthur's head to hold him in the kiss and deepened it. By the time the kiss ended, both were panting for air and Alfred did not want to leave Arthur, not even for a moment.

 

“I want to stay with you tonight,” Alfred said and Arthur knew what he was asking. “Please let me stay!”

 

Arthur took one of his arms from around Alfred's neck so he could caress Alfred's cheek. This was his king but, more than that, this was his love and this would be, maybe, his chance to experience love-making with Alfred as a land-dweller. Alfred could teach him, just as he would teach Alfred love-making as a mer.

 

“Stay with me!” Arthur begged and Alfred kissed him again and they continued to kiss as they made their way to the bedchamber.

 

* * *

 

The dreaded day had come, the one that King Alex and Prince Jason did not want to arrive and that Alfred had wished for and wanted to put off, Matthew wanted to as well, if he were honest. Arthur and Yao were excited but understood the pain of the others with them.

 

The royal pod was going back to Spades.

 

Gilbert and Peter were waiting in the water by the same beach Arthur had left Alfred on, where he had come when he came looking for Alfred, waiting for Alfred and Matthew to say goodbye to their family while Arthur and Yao stood back.

 

“I was looking forward to some fun with both of my cousins,” Jason was hugging both Alfred and Matthew, an arm wrapped around each of their necks. “But now I have to lose both of you, I'm going to be bored out of my skull.” Alfred hugged his cousin back.

 

“Hey, you're not losing us,” he replied. “We'll be back before you know it and I can tell you everything about Spades. Don't worry, Jase, we're still a family.”

 

“We'll return as soon as we can, Jason,” Matthew also reassured him. “I want as much time with you as I can get. I just found you all again, I'm not going to give you up.” They released each other and King Alex came forward pulling Alfred into a tight hug.

 

“You and Matthew are the last link to my brother,” he said, a tear in his eye. “And you're as much my son as Jason. I'm going to miss you, my boy.”

 

“I'll miss you too, Uncle Alex,” Alfred replied, hugging his uncle back. “But I promise I'll be back at the first opportunity.” Alex released Alfred and it was Matthew's turn.

 

“And you,” Alex said. “We barely get you back and you're leaving again. This is not fair.”

 

“I know, Uncle Alex,” Matthew replied, giving his uncle his return hug. “I wish I had more time too but we left Spades without proper organization and we have to go back. When we return, things will be better arranged and we'll be able to stay longer.”

 

“I hope so,” Alex replied and let Matthew go. Arthur gave a few clicks, chirps and squeals and Alex and Jason turned to Alfred and Matthew.

 

“Arthur said that we'll be quite safe in Spades,” Matthew said. “And we'll be back at the nearest opportunity. We have a treaty now and allies should stay close.” Alex smiled.

 

“So they should,” he agreed and Alfred translated for Arthur and Yao who smiled back. There came a clicking and squealing from the sea and everyone turned to the Jokers and Gilbert was calling to them.

 

“What is he saying?” Jason asked.

 

“He's saying he's sorry to rush us,” Alfred replied. “But we need to go now. If the tide turns, it will be harder to get back to Spades.” The Altheian royals sighed.

 

“Well, I suppose this is it,” Alex said and hugged his nephews one last time and Jason joined them in one big group hug. When the hug broke up, they gave each other one last smile then, with Arthur and Yao directing them, all four entered the water and shed their clothes when it was waist deep. Arthur had told him what Gilbert had told Arthur what was going to happen and Alfred was just glad he did not have to face the prospect of drowning again. Gilbert and Peter swam up to them and Gilbert produced the sapphire and held it up. Arthur slipped his hand into Alfred's and held it reassuringly and Matthew took Alfred's other hand. Not to leave him out, Arthur and Matthew grabbed each of Yao's hands. It's not that they had to hold hands but it just seemed right that they did.

 

Gilbert and Peter began to sing and the blue misty light flowed from the stone and engulfed the four men. Slits appeared on their necks and webbing appeared between their fingers as a glow shone below the water. All of them felt their legs fuse together and the scales grow back in, glowing blue and then the glow faded, leaving behind four mer where four land-dwellers once were.

 

Alfred and Matthew looked toward the beach where Alex and Jason watched with wonder and ….. sadness as they knew that both Alfred and Matthew were now beyond their reach....for now. Alfred felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Arthur. Alfred had not even felt Arthur let go of his hand to put it on his shoulder.

 

“I know you don't want to leave them,” he said, gently. “But we must go before the tide turns. We'll see them again, soon.” Alfred held on to that promise and he and Matthew waved one last time to their uncle and cousin who waved back before they turned and swam out to sea where the Spadian army were waiting to escort them back to Spades.

 

Alex and Jason watched Alfred and Matthew wave to them one last time before the six mers swam out to sea and they stayed until the mers were out of sight before returning to the castle, with a melancholy air, without half of their family, to count the days until Alfred and Matthew could return.

 

* * *

 

_Next Conclave...._

 

Gilbert had never looked forward to a Conclave so much, this was going to be awesome. While the finding of the King of Spades was announced to the Spadian populace (resulting in a celebration that lasted five tides and Gilbert had never had such a good time), the revealing to the other kingdoms was always at Conclave to give the new royal time to get used to it all. Alfred, being a former land-dweller, had more to get used to than most. He still got a little red when mermaids swam by because, despite preferring men, he got embarrassed at the sight of boobs on full display. He had to get used to the food as well. Cooking food was not an option underwater so everything was raw and it took him time to get used to eating raw fish. On the plus side, being in water meant he never got thirsty.

 

King Francis spotted Queen Arthur across the Conclave cavern and realised that the Spadian pod had arrived and he swam over to the blue-tailed queen. Francis looked forward to Conclave, just to mess with Arthur and see how much he could ruffle Arthur's scales. The grumpy Spadian looked adorable when he was all red and flustered and Francis was itching to fluster.

 

“Bonjour, mon chèr,” he greeted with his usual flirty manner while Arthur gave a groan.

 

“Not right now, Francis,” he said with a hiss of irritation. “Conclave will be starting soon and we need to get prepared so I've no time to waste on your flirting.” Francis just drifted closer, his tail waving through the water with lazy seduction.

 

“There's always time for old friends, Cherie,” he purred as he came right into Arthur's space and enjoyed the embarrassed blush that stained the Spadian's cheeks and was going to ruffle Queen Arthur further when a pair of arms came around Arthur and a blonde head with blue eyes appeared over his shoulder.

 

“Hey, Artie,” the head said. “Whatcha doing over here?”

 

Upon arrival, the first royal mers Alfred had been introduced to were the Hearts pod and Alfred thought he could get along with these mers. King Ludwig was okay, if a tad anal but a king determined to do the best for his people. Queen Kiku was quiet and polite, the opposite of Alfred but Alfred liked him and he had the feeling that he and Kiku would be good friends. Feliciano was a dizzying, slightly ditzy ball of energy and lots of fun to be around but exhausting, even for Alfred but still, a great guy and a counter for his older brother and Ace, Lovino who seemed bad-tempered but Alfred thought that this was a front to keep people at arms length, making Alfred wonder what his story was but Alfred really took to the red tailed mers.

 

Arthur had left the group, saying that he wanted to go and talk to Gilbert before the Conclave about a visit to Altheia that they were in the middle of organising for diplomatic, and Alfred and Matthew's, sake. Part way through the conversation, Alfred had looked over at Arthur to find that he had finished speaking to Gilbert but he had been stopped by some blonde mer with long hair and a yellow and orange tail who's body language was flirty and seductive. Arthur's body language told Alfred that Arthur was irritated with the mer and decided to go to Arthur's rescue. He excused himself and swam up behind Arthur before wrapping his arms around his Queen and saying, “Hey, Artie. Whatcha doing over here?” 

 

The orange/yellow tailed mer looked at Alfred's face over Arthur's shoulder and Alfred spotted the mark on the mer's chest, a K in a Diamond. So this was the King of Diamonds!

 

“Oh, Alfred,” Arthur replied. “I'm just talking. Alfred, this is King Francis of Diamonds.” Despite the fact that Alfred was behind Arthur, he went through the motions of putting his hand over his heart and giving a little bow. Francis's eye went to the arm still around the front of Arthur's shoulders and the way Alfred was pulling Arthur back against him. So, the little Spadian had found himself an amour, a Spadian that Francis had never seen before and Francis had to admit that the mer was very handsome and he could see what Arthur would see in him but really! Arthur was a queen, he should not settle for just anyone.

 

“Francis,” Arthur continued. “This is King Alfred of Spades.” Francis's eyes flew to Arthur's face in shock and back to Alfred's, then back to Arthur.

 

“King Alfr...,” he gasped. “You found your king!” Arthur smiled while Alfred drifted from behind Arthur to show his own mark and he kissed Arthur on his left temple, giving the very clear message that Arthur was off-limits. “Congratulations, King Alfred. Queen Arthur.” Francis put his hand over his heart, gave a bow and excused himself.

 

“You okay?” Alfred asked Arthur.

 

“Fine,” he replied. “All part of dealing with Francis. He's a bit flirty but he's mostly annoying.”

 

“Well, he can flirt with someone else,” Alfred said, pulling Arthur into his arms and giving him a quick kiss. “From now on, you're all mine. Let him get his own queen.”

 

“He has his own queen,” Arthur quipped. “But I think Jack Vash will gut him if Francis tries that with Queen Lili. No one touches Vash's little sister.” Alfred grinned.

 

“I'm glad someone keeps him in line,” he replied. He was interrupted by a noise that almost sounded like a whale and the pods took their places as the Red and Black Jokers took their spot in the centre. The Red Joker puffed out his chest and took a deep breath.

 

“This is going to be an awesome Conclave,” Gilbert announced. “With the awesome news that the King of Spades has been found and he turned out to be the twin of the Ace of Spades. So I am awesomely proud to announce the newest Spadian royal, King Alfred of Spades!”

 

Alfred took a deep breath and swam to the Jokers with all eyes on him, the red-tailed hearts smiling as their newest acquaintance took to the centre to give the speech that was required of all new royals to give to the other royals of the kingdoms. The Diamonds were looking Alfred over, Francis wondering how he could tease Alfred over Arthur, the new king was certainly possessive of his queen. Lili, sweet as ever, was wishing Alfred all the luck in the sea and Vash was just plain assessing him. Ace Antonio was too busy looking at Lovino to pay attention, kind of oblivious but Alfred wondered how much he should trust that façade.

 

King Ivan was looking at Alfred with a child-like but slightly creepy smile on his face and Alfred could not decide if Ivan was imagining them as friends or imagining crushing the life out of Alfred's body and Alfred suppressed a shudder. He would have to watch Ivan.

 

Ace Natalya was not much better, Ivan's younger sister did not smile, giving her a rather unfriendly look but beyond that she gave nothing away. Queen Elizaveta and Jack Roderich were also assessing Alfred but it was just trying to determine whether he would be friend or foe and Alfred hope they would not be foes. He had not become the King of Spades, just to start a fight with the green-tails.

 

Alfred floated between the two Jokers with the royals of four kingdoms looking at him, including his own, waiting for his speech and he had to make this good and he took a deep breath.

 

“I haven't been a mer for very long,” he began. “I never even considered that a possibility until the Queen of Spades came into my life, bringing my twin brother back, after thinking him dead for many years and now I'm the King of Spades. This has given me so much but also given me great responsibility. Not only for my own kingdom but for yours as well.” Alfred looked toward the other kingdoms for emphasis. “Every decision I make will not only effect my kingdom but could have consequences for yours too. It's both exciting and frightening at the same time and I will do everything I can to keep harmony between my kingdom and yours. I may have been a land-dweller but I was a royal land-dweller, born and raised understanding the pressures of ruling a kingdom, of maintaining a kingdom and defending a kingdom. I will do what I must to make Spades strong but I invite the other kingdoms to grow strong with us, to work together for the sake of all mers.” Alfred paused to take another deep breath.

 

“I don't know what else to say but,” Alfred continued. “The future depends on us all and I will do my part as a mer...and the King of Spades.” After a moment, clapping began among the hearts pod, followed by the Diamonds and then the Clubs. One thing that had been feared was that the new King would rule Spades and make decisions without thinking of the negative consequences for the other three but Alfred's speech had made it clear that he understood this, that he wanted to make and keep Spades strong but he wanted to do that alongside the other kingdoms as well. Only time would tell if things would go the way Alfred wanted but this was an encouraging start.

 

Arthur looked at Alfred, his king, with great pride and love and with great hope for the future as Alfred swam back toward the other Spadians. He felt sure that everything would be fine and the kingdom was in safe hands and, when Alfred wrapped his arms around Arthur, he was absolutely convinced of it.

 

“Did I do all right?” Alfred asked. He had worried about his speech, ever since Arthur had told him he had to make one, telling the other kingdoms his plans for his own and his plans for interaction with the other kingdoms. He wanted to convey that he would keep Spades strong but he did not want to seem like a threat to the other kingdoms. He had become a mer to be with Arthur and to be King to Spades, not to start a war with the other mers.

 

“You did wonderfully,” Arthur reassured him. “And I knew you would, I'm so proud of you, Alfred.” And he floated up to kiss Alfred, not even registering that he was doing this in front of all the other mers and Alfred did not care either as he deepened the kiss that Arthur initiated. Safe in each other's arms, Arthur and Alfred no longer had doubts about the future. Spades was going to be fine, all the mers were going to be fine and before Alfred and Arthur was a future of love as they took Spades into a golden age.

 

And a story was added to mer history, of a mer queen who set foot on land, looking for his king and bringing him home to become the greatest king Spades had ever known. And they fell in love.

 

And who does not love a good love story.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not entirely happy with the way I ended this but I rewrote it three times and this was the best I could come up with and I hope you liked it, at least.


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